One of the first things I noticed in Greenland were all the colourful houses. In this harsh landscape, they really stood out. And they made me happy!
This is a green gym to the left, and to the right a kindergarten. Every kindergarten we saw had these multicoloured fences.
This supermarket chain in Greenland can provide you with everything you want or need. This one in Kangerlussuaq.
We stayed here for some days, making excursions to glaciers and walks in the mountains. The first look into Greenlandic everyday life and joys. As you can see, letting their children out alone was nothing to worry about.
Everyone living here was somehow connected to the airport, and its buildings dominated the whole village.
There were loads of huge containers with everything needed for the aircraft – mostly fuel of course. And, even the containers were colourful…
On our tours out of the town, we saw ”summer houses” in the mountains. Very lonely – but not abandoned.
Next we stayed several days in Ilulissat, a charming town with a busy harbour and colourful houses and boats. It was a relaxing joy to walk there watching the boats come in and go out, loading and unloading their cargo.
Now, why all these bright colours? We learned that there were several reasons to this. One was that a certain colour meant the owner of the house had a special profession and the building was meant for a special thing. Red – churches, schools, Yellow – hospitals and doctors, Blue – maintainment and factories in the fishing industry, Green – post and telecommunication. Black – police stations.
It all started in the 18th century when there were no street names and no numbered houses. It was also easier to find what you were looking for when everything was lost in snow during winter.
Nowadays you can paint your house in whatever colour you want, but most churches are still red and hospitals are still yellow.
Old and new are mixed – as Greenland expand and get more tourists
– but all buildings and houses have their pipes on the ground because of the harsh winters. People also depend upon steps and stairs to reach their front doors…I can truly say I have never walked that many steps in two weeks before.
Close to our hotel we also found some super modern cabins overlooking the sea. Somehow the architects had managed to make them fit in with this very special landscape – both shape and the open glass solution seemed winning concepts.
Many houses were brought from Denmark or Scandinavia and put together in Greenland. They have no forests here – in fact the only thing I might have missed during these glorious two weeks!
Leya 
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