Friday 15 July 2011

The Capital City

Greenland is on a different scale.  It is the biggest island in the world.  It has the largest national park in the world. That same park is the most northerly park in the world.  It boasts the second largest ice sheet on the planet and has the most productive glacier in the world outside of Antarctica.  It is also the least densely populated country in the world.  We cannot help but use our own experience to try to make sense of the things we see around us.  A capital city with a population of 15,862 people seems extremely small by our standards, but according to Wikipedia there are 56 capital cities in the world that are smaller than Nuuk!  (Capitals by population) . More than 25% of the total population of Greenland lives there.    Not surprisingly, Nuuk is also the cultural and economic centre of Greenland.
As we approached Nuuk the sun was once again shining.  The clear blue skies were back!  It was another perfect day to explore Greenland.  We were alongside the pier at 09:00.  Shortly thereafter a shuttle started transporting people from the ship to the National Museum.  The shuttles ran back and forth, every thirty minutes throughout the day.  In the addition to exploring the fine museum there were lots of other options available such as boat trips up the fjord, a long hike, a City tour or just explore the capital on your own.
At 15:30 we were all back on board Fram.
In the late afternoon there were lectures available in English, German and Danish as well as information sessions regarding the plans for tomorrow.