August 15, 2005 – Sisimiut, Greenland – Overcast and gray – 41F

August 15, 2005 – Sisimiut, Greenland 

Port Information:  Sisimiut is located 47 miles north of the Arctic Circle and is Greenland’s second largest city with a population of about 5,500 people.  The name of the city means “The Residents at the Foxholes”.  Sisimiut is also “ice free” all year round and is the northernmost North American port to be open in the winter. 

It’s a short day here so. at 10 AM, after another nice breakfast (this was the view),

 we disembarked with a plan to walk around the town. It was kind of hilly and the streets were full of potholes (you had to watch where you walked).  

The place was interesting and very much like other Greenlandic towns - with colorful houses dotting the hills.  One of the largest buildings was home to Arctic Circle Business.  They are a business consulting organization promoting local enterprises.

Across the road from the pier and up a moderate hill, there are rock faces that contain carvings of animals.  There was also a seating area made of rocks.

We continued our walking tour of the city.

here was another ship here – smaller than Quest – MS Fridtjof Nansen – flagged in Longyearbyen, Norway.

It has been here for a couple of days.  In the cluttered harbor area, I did get a shot of Quest. We also came across several junked boats just lying in a ditch.

It was quite cold but we did manage about 4000 steps before we decided to go back to the ship. 

Once we were back in the warmth of the ship we saw a school bus come and go from the pier gate.  It only dropped off about 2-3 people and didn’t pick up anybody.  It turned out to be the Ship Shuttle that we missed when going through the Insider.  It would have helped with the hills but that’s history now. 

It was Tomato Soup and a Tuna Sandwich (food of the gods) up in Windows Café for lunch.  You had to get a seat far away from the doors to avoid the super cold drafts.  We stayed in the Café for the early afternoon sail out.  

There was some chop as we moved out - I went out on the port deck - it was pretty nippy out there - to get a shot of the waves.  It also didn't take long until we started sailing through some fog.

On the way out to open sea, we had our best whale spotting experience – maybe about 10 or more spouts and even some views of the whales themselves.  No tails, though, but more whales than the rest of the cruise combined.  We also got a brief period of sunshine - the first in several days.

We changed for dinner in the Discoveries Restaurant. Tonight we again scored Table 18.  I had the Greek Salad to start with before our special meals.  While the Duck Salad was a disappointment – some of it was cold and some warm (incomplete cooking), the Stuffed Peppers (one red and one green) were fabulous – maybe even better than the Spaghetti Bolognese.  Even though they were stuffed with rice and not meat, they had a terrific savoriness about them.  They also tasted like they had been made fresh and not heated up from the freezer.  I don’t know how the kitchen did it. Ellen moved to the Bolognese which was again delicious.  It was a good thing we ordered the backup.  Our dinners have been coming out quickly so we are done with dinner before 7 PM.  We both had the melon sorbet for dessert.  I didn’t like it that much.  We had tea and coffee in the Mosaic Café. 

We are skipping the show tonight – Magician Eric Clayton – ironically, we have been on ships with him three times and have yet to see his show. 

The Mosaic Café started to fill up so we went to the stateroom early for P and Q.