This year we cruised to Greenland via the Faroes and Iceland and back to Scotland stopping on the north side of Iceland and then the Orkneys. You may say WHY? Iceland was pretty much as you would expect, you know geysers, whales, dolphins, puffins (strange, strange birds whose wings are not very efficient) and a lot of tourist type stuff, but Greenland was magnificent. Great snow topped mountains fall straight into a blue, blue unpolluted sea, and occasionally there are tiny wee inlets with two or three houses, painted such bright colours, only accessible by sea. A sea, littered with icebergs that have broken off the enormous glaciers,that slide gracefully into the sea. Small rivers of water cascade into the sea down the sides of the mountains forging picturesque channels. We entered the iceberg-strewn waters at about five in the morning. It was breath taking. I have been up the Norwegian coast and round the Land of the Midnight Sun but nothing could prepare one for this quiet magnificence. Greenland is larger than Australia or the whole of Europe and yet it only has a population of about 17,000. It is 85% covered in ice. Our first stop was Qaqortoq which is one the main CITIES, having approximately 3,000 people living there all in these brightly coloured houses, made of wood and TIN!! We also visited Narsarsaq where there is an "International airport" which has a weekly flight to Denmark! Greenland has very little industry and is mostly supported by Denmark. It was strange to be in a place, which did not "accommodate" tourists, just a State owned supermarket, which sold very familiar imported goods!! The people are called Inuits, which means "human being" in their language. Evidently Eskimo is not polite. (One man came up to us and said "Me Eskimo, where you from?" so much for political correctness!! These people are surprisingly dark skinned with a mass of beautiful straight black hair. A cruise is always a very pleasant way to spend a holiday, but this was more than a holiday it was a WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE. What I really mean is an EXPERIENCE FULL OF WONDER.
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Advantages: Not as expensive as expected, friendly people, easy to get around, great beer! Disadvantages: More expensive than the UK, gets ignored when thinking about a short break
moose 18.05.2001 (31.07.2002)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of General: Denmark
Advantages: Location - easily reached by car and public transport Disadvantages: Cleanliness leaves a lot to be desired, expensive rooms and substandard service
Oct 8th, 2000
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