Greenland Day One: An Evening ( Almost Midnight) Walk Under the Northern Sun In Nuuk

After arriving at the Hans Egede Hotel in Nuuk , I  checked  into my room.  Seeing the beautiful view from my window,  I was eager to explore this northern city. I was off in five minutes. I didn’t realize the time, it was 8:30 p.m. and very  light. The sun was still fairly high above the horizon.

I looked at making reservations for dinner after a walk through the town. Good think I did.  I learned the hotel restaurant and other restaurants in the town would close at 9 p.m. So  I decided to eat  a quick dinner at the buffet  at the restaurant at the hotel. It was a most interesting experience and a great start  start to my adventure in Greenland. The menu included customary Inuit, the native inhabitants of Greenland, foods including musk oxen,

reindeer,

and whale. I am a pescatarian, and I supplement my mostly vegetable diet with fish, so I wasn’t eating any of these unusual foods.   The musk ox and reindeer are not endangered  but the most species of whale are. All  whale species are protected from whaling by the International Whaling Commission, (IWC) but an exception is made for certain aboriginal peoples including the native Inuits of Greenland.  There is a controversy over allowing travelers to Greenland to eat the whale meat and I would agree to only let the native population consume it as part of their culture and tradition, under the strict guideline of the Whaling Commission.

I enjoyed my dinner of artic cod, halibut, scallops and  shrimps.

and left the hotel for an evening walk through Nuuk. I  walked north on Aqqusinersuaq Street, a main street in Nuuk, the capital of Greenland. There was almost on motor vehicle  traffic and few people on the main street. Nuuk has a population of about 20,000 people.

There has been a lot of growth in the last few years.  I met a person on the shuttle ride from the airport and he said none of the large modern commercial buildings and apartments were here 15 years ago.

I enjoyed the  contrast of the older colorful residences, the modern buildings and apartments and the large mountains, some still with snow cover, looming in the distance. Nuuk is located  on the  southwest coast of Greenland  at the mouth of a large system of   fjords.

 I headed west on H.J Rinkip Aqutaa Street and made my way down to Nuuk Harbor, past some businesses,

parks,

and sculptures. 

Dandelion flowers bloomed everywhere  along the road as I neared the harbor.  These yellow dandelions are invasive. I have learned there are native dandelions in Greenland built their flowers are white.

I also saw my first dwarf fireweed flowers. These flowers are native to Greenland and are the national flower.

I kept forgetting it was almost 9;30 p.m. as I walked under the sun, partially obscured by clouds.  It would not set until after midnight. Nuuk is about 150 miles south of the Arctic Circle so it  does not experience the 24 hour midnight sun. It has only about  3 hours of night on June 21 but already lost almost 2 hours of daylight a month after  the Solstice.

As I neared the harbor I came to the Church of Our Savior. This Lutheran Church was built in 1849.

On the rocky hill above the church  is the famous statue of Hans Egede. Hans Egede is a Danish Norwegian missionary who re-established a  Danish colony on Greenland in 1721. It was the first European contact  after the original Viking colonies were abandoned hundreds of years earlier. Native Inuits still lived along the coast and have lived their since migrating here over a 1000 years ago. 

I climbed up the hill, taking in the beautiful views of Nuuk,

the sea,

and the mountains.

as I stood below the statue of Hans Egede.

It was from here I saw  and iceberg floating in the ocean.

I made my way down the hill and to the rocky shore of the sea,

here I saw and investigated the Mother of the Sea, Sassuma Arnaa,  sculpture. The statue represents the Spirit of the Sea, an important Spirit in Inuit culture with whom the shamans would communicate on behalf of the Inuit people.

I left the statue and walked  along Hans Egedesvej Street.  Here is a link to a gallery on my blog web site with more photos from the first part of my  3 mile hike. Greenland Day One evening hike  part one July 19 2025

I still wasn’t orientated or familiar with Nuuk and walked right past the Hans Egede home and the National Museum. They weren’t open anyway. The sun in the sky continued to make me forget the time.

I walked along the rocky shore,

and walked out to a dock, here I saw some large Arctic cod swimming in the cold waters, and this seaweed.

There were also a few seagulls flying over the ocean. This is, I believe, a this is a yellow legged gull, and this

a black backed gull. I saw both of these gulls on my recent visit to Spain.

I also saw these , I believe, glaucous gulls. They were  a first sighting for me.

A few boats still   zoomed through the harbor.

I looked over at the statue of Hans Egede and saw a few other late evening tourists were visiting him.

I now came to  a  boardwalk that took me  along the shore. Along side the boardwalk  were some old Nuuk homes,

than  above a cliff large apartment buildings  were  built  on the hill above the harbor.

They have friendly residents, a number of the folks in the apartments yelled down at me to take their photos, so I did. Greenlanders are a friendly people.

I walked to the end of the boardwalk and began my walk back to my hotel. It was now after 10 p.m. and the sun still shone on the mountains in the distance.

I walked past some large rock plates  covered with native grasses , plants and lichens.  There is a lot of rocks in Greenland . The invasive dandelions did not grow up this far from the shore line.

I walked back through the  apartments and into town, walking past some murals,

sculptures and

art works.

It was now 10:30 p.m.  I wanted to watch the sunset at 12:15 a.m. but some clouds moved in and, I was tired form my log day of travel, so I decided to call it a day,

and walk back to my hotel.

  Unfortunately I couldn’t sleep and kept looking out my window to see the almost midnight sun and light. . I finally fell asleep, around 1 a.m. This was the view from my window shortly before I dozed off. It was a great first walk through the streets of Nuuck.  I fell asleep looking forward to exploring some more in the morning. I was glad I made my last minute decision to visit this amazing place.  Here is a link to a gallery on my blog web site with more photos from the finish of my  3 mile hike. Greenland Day One evening hike  part two  July 19 2025 

“My foggy Arctic dreams were crystallizing. I would point my compass north and follow in the footsteps of those who first came this way over a thousand years ago.”  Damjan Koncnik, Greenland: The End of the World