November didn’t start off great as I said goodbye to two friends and lost two puppies a few days later. But it did give me some beautiful days in Tasiilaq later in the month, and a wonderful return home to East Jutland.
Goodbye my loves
Augusta and Eleanor flew back to Nuuk on November 2nd, after a great week with hikes, a sailing trip, dog cuddling and lots of relaxing. We spent their last day emptying our bank accounts in Tasiilaq’s shops; we all bought Christmas gifts and Augusta and I bought some clothes of the brand INUIT Quality Clothes of Greenland. We both purchased the most comfortable pair of sweatpants on earth – I wore them for a week straight afterwards, and I’m actually wearing them right now as I write this.
Augusta and Eleanor had fallen in love with Tasiilaq’s many puppies, just like I had. We especially had a special bond to little Ayla and her brother Qimo, whom I’d met and fallen in love with a month earlier. I’d visited them every day apart from two ever since I found them, so I was devastated when I learned that Qimo was sick. November 5th turned out to be the worst day of the year as Qimo died from his illness and I found Ayla dead a few meters from him, bitten to death by a loose dog. I cried so much as I held them in my arms and laid them by their poor mother, who had now lost all six of her puppies.
Losing them felt like losing two beloved pets who I’d had for years. I loved them so much, and I still do. I am thankful that I met them and got to spend a month with them, because they made my time in Tasiilaq really special.
I swore that I wouldn’t visit the dogs again, but I couldn’t help myself, and I ended up going three times before I left the town. I wanted to spend time with their mother, and the other beloved puppies called Biscuit (later Popcorn), Scooby Doo and Scooby Roo. I’m glad I did go back as I think I needed to see the place without Ayla and Qimo to fully understand that they were gone. I will forever love and miss them.
Storm of the century
The beautiful weather that we’d had all through October with snowfalls and endless days of sunshine was over, and autumn storms had taken over. We had several rainstorms in a row, washing away all the snow.
On November 14th, I experienced the worst storm in my life. It started during my workday and got worse in the afternoon so I had to walk out in it to get home. I can’t even describe what a struggle that was. The wind was against me and it was blowing lumps of snow in my face at over 40 mph. I could barely see anything and I almost couldn’t walk. I had to stop several times to turn my face away from the wind as it hurt so bad. I was soaked when I finally got home after a walk that usually takes just a few minutes.
The storm continued through the night, shutting down the tv signal all over town, and having me worried that the door or windows would blow open. At one point, I was stupid enough to open the door as I could hear something falling from the roof just behind the door. It was large chunks of icy snow, blocking my way out and freezing to the bottom of the door before I could even react. I quickly closed the door, but it wouldn’t lock again, so I opened it wide again to shovel some snow away, but the door just got more icy by the second, and mixed with the strong wind, I had such a struggle to even close the door this time that I considered calling the fire department. If I couldn’t close the door, it could potentially damage the entire apartment or I could freeze to death – or both… Thankfully, I did finally get it closed after hitting it hard with my butt, but I couldn’t lock it no matter what I did. So I put the shovel under the door handle and hoped for the best. I survived!
The last week in Tasiilaq
My last week was an eventful one. I spent the weekend hiking in the Flower Valley (such a beautiful hike), revisiting some of my favourite places in the village and saying goodbye to the dogs.
The weekdays were busy as I was finishing up my last project, an exhibition at the Photo Museum about six of Eigil Knuths busts, created in Tasiilaq in 1936-37 with local people as models. We had a vernissage for it, my very first exhibition, on November 20th, a few hours after celebrating the departure of the last supply ship with canons and fireworks. That was such a wonderful day with two cultural events!
I spent the last few days finishing up my work and getting ready for my travel back to Denmark.
Goodbye Tasiilaq, hello Kulusuk
I left Tasiilaq on November 27th, after eleven wonderful and adventurous weeks. But the adventures weren’t over yet. I had a helicopter ride to Kulusuk, where the only airport in the area is located. The weather was incredible and I sat in the right side for the mountain views. I watched as Tasiilaq disappeared in the horizon and tiny Kulusuk appeared a few minutes later.
I had a two-hour stopover in Kulusuk, and since I’d already checked everything in for my flight to Iceland, I wanted to spend it exploring the village. Luckily, two Danish girls who I’d spoken to previously said they would watch my hand luggage, so I set off for the hike to the village. It’s 45 minutes away along the main road, but I found a shortcut, which only took me 25 minutes. That left me with 45 glorious minutes to spend in the beautiful village.
I had wanted to explore it the last time I had a stopover there, but I’d only made it to a viewpoint of the village, so I was thrilled that I finally got the chance. It was incredibly beautiful, and I actually fell a little bit in love with it. I can imagine myself returning one day for a longer visit!
En route to Denmark
I flew from Kulusuk to Reykjavík Airport and then had to catch a bus to Keflavík International Airport, from where my flight to Copenhagen would depart the next day. Luckily, everything had been sorted for me, so I didn’t have to pay for my transportation or my fancy airport hotel in Keflavík. I arrived in the evening, had a vegan burger (finallyyyy) and tried to get some sleep before my 8 AM flight. I couldn’t sleep much though as I was anxious that I wouldn’t hear my alarm.
The hotel served breakfast from 4.30 AM, which was perfect for me as I had to be at the airport at 6 AM. The flight to Copenhagen went smoothly and I spent most of it chatting away to two friendly men from East Jutland (where I’m also from!). When I landed in Copenhagen, I found out that one of the wheels on my suitcase had fallen off… So I literally had to drag it through the metros in Copenhagen, first to pick up a book from the university and then to the bus station, where I could finally catch a bus to East Jutland.
I got home in the late evening of November 28th. It was wonderful to finally see my family and kittie again after being gone since the end of August!
Family time in Kiel
Two days after I got back home, I was on the road again, although this time with my family (except my younger brother, who lives in Scotland). We have a tradition in my family to go to a Christmas market in Germany every year, and this year we headed to Kiel for an overnight stay.
We had a wonderful time strolling through the city’s four atmospheric Christmas markets, and it was especially enjoyable to watch my niece Ellie’s excitement over the Christmas lights – and our excitement when Ellie crawled for the first time!
Destinations visited in November 2019
- Tasiilaq and Kulusuk, Greenland
- Keflavík, Iceland
- Copenhagen and Hov, Denmark
- Kiel, Germany
Highlights
- Buying those awesome sweatpants with Augusta and Eleanor… Never taking them off!
- Experiencing the celebrations for the departure of the last supply ship in Tasiilaq. Such a special moment!
- My vernissage – it’s always wonderful to see a project come to a great end!
- Finally exploring beautiful Kulusuk – and falling in love with the place!
- Kissing my kittie after three long months of separation!
- Spending a beautiful weekend at the Christmas markets in Kiel with my family.
- Watching Ellie crawl for the first time! Such a special moment.
Challenges
- Saying goodbye to Augusta and Eleanor after the best week in Tasiilaq.
- Losing Ayla and Qimo. The most painful thing I’ve gone through in years <3
- The STORM. Wow!!
- Leaving Tasiilaq. That town will always hold a special place in my heart.
- Only being able to take phone pictures on my stopover in Kulusuk… My beloved camera got some sort of system error in October and I’d since been using a camera from the youth cultural center, but in Kulusuk, I was left with just my crappy phone.
- Not being able to sleep the night before my 8 AM flight to Copenhagen – despite being in a fancy airport hotel… It always happens to me when I have an early flight as I’m terrified of not hearing my alarm. My body reacts by waking me up every 30 minutes… Thanks, body.
- My poor suitcase with its broken wheel… And the hell I put it through while dragging it from place to place in Copenhagen! I’m so thrilled it got all of my stuff home safely though!
Most popular post
- My October 2019: Tasiilaq and a boat trip to Tiniteqilaaq – What I got up to on this sunny month in East Greenland!
The other posts
- A nice afternoon in Nice – A wonderful afternoon in a surprisingly beautiful city
- Deep in the Flower Valley: Climbing the Pyramid mountain – An adventurous climb up a mountain near Tasiilaq
- A summer day in Málaga: Backpacking in a vacation haven – I had a different experience in this Andalusian city than most visitors!
- Winter wonderland in the Flower Valley – Magic in the most picturesque valley on Earth
- Through the icefjord to Tiniteqilaaq: An East Greenlandic sailing adventure – Seals, icebergs and a picturesque village on the edge of the world!
- A winter climb up Qaqqartivakajik in Tasiilaq – My second climb up this mountain, accompanied by two great friends!
Most popular Instagram picture
The magic of winter selfies!
Coming up in December 2019
December is going to be another eventful month! I’m spending the first week at home in East Jutland before going to Copenhagen for two days on Sunday. Tuesday, I’m flying to a new country – ISRAEL! I’ll be spending 2,5 weeks in the country, exploring Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and going on a Bahá’í pilgrimage in Haifa and Akko! On the way back to Denmark, I’ll have a seven-hour stopover in Riga and plan on going to the Christmas markets in the old center! The last few days of the year will be spent at home with my family, which is perfect.
Leave a Comment