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On the second day, our expedition leader organised safety briefings, a lifeboat drill and lectures on Arctic birds and plants to keep us occupied between meals as we sailed all day towards the town of Ilulissat in Disko Bay.
These big life jackets are guaranteed to keep you afloat indefinitely but they offer no protection against the thermal shock of the arctic sea barely above freezing temperature.
There were some icebergs in Davis Strait but they were less spectacular than those I had seen in Antarctica.
Cloudy skies and an occasional drizzle also compared unfavourably with the sunny weather I had enjoyed in Antarctica.
On the third day we reached the 70 km long Ilulissat Icefjord in front of the 5 km wide Sermeq Kujalleq glacier. That glacier advances an average 19 metres a day and produces 35 cubic km of icebergs every year (10 % of greelandic icebergs).
After the cruise I found out that the Ilulissat Icefjord had just been inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List of remarkable natural sites in July, one month before our visit.
After an early breakfast we boarded zodiacs to visit Ilulissat (The Icebergs), the birth place of the famous arctic explorer Knud Rasmussen.
With 4000 people and 6000 dogs, Ilulissat is the third largest city and one of Greenland's major
tourist destinations. It has a modern airport and a major ferry terminal served three
times a week from Nuuk, twice weekly from Qeqertarsuaq and once from Uummannaq.
Most cruise ships use the ferry terminal but we landed on these rocks on the edge of town by zodiac.
I had used the wrong settings on my first digital camera with the unfortunate result that all my Ilulissat photos were overexposed.
This is the Ilulissat hospital as seen looking north from our landing spot.
And this was the view looking south from where we landed.
We were bussed to the old heliport from where most of the passengers went on a nature walk on the tundra.
Some of us drove back to town, hoping to meet the local people.
It was cold and wet as I walked up Edvard Siivertsenip street with its row of wind breaking apartment houses, all the way to...
... the Ilulissat community center with a supermarket, shops, restaurants and a bank. The place was deserted, probably because of the foul weather.
Finally I took shelter in the Hvide Falk Hotel at the other end of the same street. I tried to engage conversation with the hotel personnel but found them somewhat reserved and did not insist.
Here is the Orlova, anchored among the ice floes in the bay.
Finally we left at 12:30, again by zodiac from the rocky shore in front of the church of Zion built at great expense to the local faithful in 1782
After lunch we had a lecture on ice and one on whales while sailng south towards Sisimiut.
On the whole, it had been a rather dissapointing day for me.
