Does Greenland have any bad weather at all?! – we ask
ourselves. Another day full of bright sunshine and blue sky lies behind us.
Another day full of highlights with more landings, more Viking remains, more
scenery.
However, when the alarm clock rang this morning the first
reaction was an “oh no!” as it was still dark outside and very early. But yes,
a tough program was waiting for us and the first landing started at 7.30.
Hvalsey was the destination and once awake, everybody was delighted to presence
a spectacular sunrise. 
When we arrived, the ruins of the Vikings were still in
the shadow, but as time passed by, we could almost see how the first sunrays
began to illuminate the old buildings. Hvalsey offers the best preserved Viking
church and it was here that the last documented wedding took place, back in
1408. It is also the last written record of the Norsemen before they
disappeared from Greenland.
Around 9 o’clock we lifted the anchor again to reach out for
our next landing place: Qassiarsuk. It was an amazing sail through the
Tunulliarfik Fjord (Eriksfjord) with new snow on the peaks at the starboard
side. Despite the sunshine, there is no doubt that winter is approaching – we
could clearly see the sea starting to freeze. In Qassiarsuk, the beaches were
covered with thin little ice plates and in some parts there was still frost
even in the afternoon.
Qassiarsuk is an important historical place as it was here
that Erik the Red, the first Viking to settle in Greenland, established his
farm around 1000 years ago. Ruins of the old church and other buildings
reminded us of those times, and despite the Vikings have gone long ago, still
today the area is very green (for the first time we understand the word
Green-land!) and used for sheep farming. 
Local guides gave us a tour through the 40-souls village. At
the end, by the replica of the Norsemen’s church and a longhouse, Tjorhilde,
Erik the Red’s wife, was waiting for us. Ok – not she in person of course - but
she did look very authentic! It was Edda from Iceland who in a dramatic
one-woman-show made history become alive. We could imagine it all: violence,
murder, passion and the strong will to colonize this new country.
And now we will follow Leif the Lucky (whose monument
watches over the settlement) on his explorations that took him even farther…to
the west…and to find another continent – today called North America!
