Page 70 - WINE DINE AND TRAVEL SPRING 2023 SPECIAL CRUISE EDTION

I was on a Viking Star shore excursion in tiny
Nanortalik, the most southern town in Green-
land, pop. 1,100. My husband Carl and I had
signed up for a 90-minute walking tour on a
crisp, sunny August day—temperature 45. Our
group of some two dozen was led by a proud
native of the area and recent college grad. I
was in awe of the bright green, red, yellow, or-
ange and blue modest wood houses set against
the gorgeous scenery. So I lagged behind the
group taking photos. Later Carl filled me in on
the info that I had missed: The town has 1 hos-
pital, 1 small hotel, 1 hostel, 1 grocery store, 1
cafe, 1 Lutheran church, 1 gas station, 1 youth
center, several schools, 2 physicians (from
Denmark) and 3 cops. I learned from the ship's
“Viking Daily” that “Nanortalik translates lo-
cally into 'place of polar bears' and was estab-
lished in 1770; it is nestled on an island near
the mouth of a fjord on southwestern shores.
The longtime Intuit traditions include fishing
for crab, hunting hooded seals and welcoming
visitors with a festive kaffe-mik, a coffee party
with plenty of their famed Greenlandic cake.”
Carl and I had experienced a kaffe-mik on a
previous shore excursion to Qaqortoq in 2018,
hosted by a charming Intuit grandmother in
her modest hillside home with a fabulous sea-
side view. And that is just one reason that we
had decided to book this same cruise itinerary,
our favorite of some 30 worldwide cruises we
have taken: 14 nights from Bergen, Norway, to
Montreal, Canada. The unique itinerary in-
cluded the Shetland Islands; Faroe Islands;
Reyjavik, Iceland; the two stops in Greenland;
and eastern Canada: L'Anse aux Meadows,
Saguenay, Quebec City, and Montreal.
However, due to winds, the ship with 885
passengers (mostly Americans) was not able to
stop in the Faroe Islands or in Qaqortoq,
where we had looked forward to another shore
excursion kaffe-mik, bringing the hostess a
special souvenir gift from San Diego.

70 WINE DINE & TRAVEL MAGAZINE SPRING 2023