Summary of a load of articles by our man in the Arctic, Ulrik Ulriksen.
BB's deadline is Tuesday noon and this is as far as the articles cover.
Not arranged chronological but arranged after the towns and hamlets being visited.
Qaqortoq.
It was here the family was seen wearing their Greenlandic national costumes for the first time. Or rather their regional Greenlandic costumes. It was the various municipalities in Greenland that had paid for the children's costumes.
Mary and Frederik wore the most well known costumes, from western Greenland.
Christian was also wearing a male costumes from western Greenland, like dad. But Bella wore a costume for the east coast, complete with traditional hair ornaments. And in contrast to Mary and Josephine, Bella's kamikker (boots) are dark.
Josephine wore a costume from northern Greenland, Thule to be exact. Because Josephine is still a little girl her anorak (jacket) is light, when she gets older she will be allowed to wear a darker anorak. A little bag made from seal-skin is a part of the accessory, which she did indeed show of the her twin brother. Around her belly she wore a scarf the same color as the flowers on her anorak.
Vincent also wore a costume from Thule, complete with pants made from the skin of a polar bear, which were a little difficult to move in, new as they are.
While the other children took the jubilant welcoming in their stride, Vincent was initially somewhat overwhelmed and sought refuge in the arms of mother. Later on he did thaw up though. He also soon found his footing in the somewhat cumbersome and very warm pants.
To say that the Greenlanders appreciated the family wearing the regional costumes would be the understatement of the year!
By now the more seasoned royal children i.e. Isabella and Christian acted professional and were more than willing to shake hands with as many locals as possible, in fact Christian was so busy doing that that daddy Frederik had to call for him: "Christian. - Christian". "Coming" was the reply. Josephine mimicked her older siblings and was busy greeting everybody and everything as well.
Not only were the locals pretty delighted to see the family in regional costumes, they also very much used the Greenlandic names of the twins, Ivalo and Minik was heard constantly, also in official speeches and the names were also used by Mary and Frederik.
But there was work too. Trees are not natural to Greenland, so what trees there are have been planted and carefully nurtured by humans and still wearing the national costumes the family set about to plant a few trees in a local poplar grove and here Mary praised her little helper: "You do that so well, Ivalo". A low hill shield the grove and that was a nice place for Bella and Christian to slide down from, while their siblings were busy digging.
All that representing can be a bit tiring and Josephine, who otherwise did fine, was observed once yawning.
Mary was seen wearing a narrow chain in her hair, made from oxidized silver and gold earrings with lilac gem stones.
Later on Frederik changed to a more comfortable attire and was seen wearing seal skin west over a blue anorak, when he attended a feast in his honor. The west is by Great Greenland.
While in the town M&F and Christian went to the local soccer club K-33, whose home turf is at the same time the best artificial football field in Greenland and here Christian, who is playing in a soccer club home in DK, took a very active role. In fact he opted to stay on when his parents left for Dannebrog to prepared themselves for a reception onboard later on.
Mary, also wearing a seal skin west visited a refuge/place to be for youths and children from especially socially challenged families. (Social issues of all sorts are regrettably a serious problem in Greenland). She took her time talking with both staff and children, some of which stayed close to her. Next item on the agenda was a visit to a local kindergarten.
Considering their attire it was natural form M&F to visit the Great Greenland factory to see how the west's they wore was made. The factory works closely with the Danish designer Jesper Hřvring, who was there as well. (Greenland has a rising export of skin made into fashion items, rather than practical attire, to countries like Russia and China).
M&F also visited an institution for multi-handicapped. Among them Henrik, who is called Henri, because he is a big fan of the DRF. He was sitting in a swing and Mary pushed him a few times, thoroughly delighting Henri!
While in the town it was time for a group photo.
Those residents born in 1968 posed with Frederik and those born in 1972 posed with Mary.
Nanortaliq.
Here the twins, aka Minik and Ivalo were in the center of attention. Apparently the locals had completely adopted the twins, even before they arrived. The twins were only called Minik and Ivalo! Actually their names were chanted, slightly amusing the Josephine in particular who acknowledged the tribute by waving the best she had learned.
It seems like the rest of the family were reduced to props...
Yeah, okay. At least the local children in particular were more than eager to shake hands with Bella and Christian. There is a photo of Bella facing and adoring crowd.
But the adults, they very much had an eye for Minik and Ivalo and everybody wanted to shake the twins hands it seemed.
The entertainment was also very child friendly with dance and music, and the twins danced along.
The small town has a open air museum which the family looked at before it was time for the twins to return to Dannebrog. Christian and Bella stayed with mum and dad and visited another refuge for children with domestic issues. Here Christian teamed up with a local boy and played a soccer game on a Play station.
As tradition dictates the family were treated to a kaffemik, all of them, and here they were served freshly baked buns with butter and cakes.
Igaliko.
Here Frederik had a chat with one of the oldest residents, who has lived in the hamlet all his life.
It is also here that there are ruins of one of the Nordic settlements in Greenland, some 1.000 years old. The stones may not have meant much to the children, but they were fun to run around on and jump from and that's what the children did. Christian and Bella are the oldest and boldest, but after having observed their older sister and brother for a while, the twins tried their very best to imitate them.
Frederik has visited the ruins before, when he was a boy, but this was Mary's first visit.
A bungee house had prudently been placed in the middle of the hamlet and that was used enthusiastically by both Bella and Christian.
Josephine busied herself with picking flowers for mother, while Vincent placed himself on the ground and patiently listened to the official speeches.
Alluitsup Paa.
On this rainy day the traditional kaffemik (communal coffee, now you've learned a new word, eh?) took place inside the local sport shall and here M&F were seen putting their arms around each other. The coffee served at a kaffemik is apparently strong! So perhaps M&F are still wide awake...!
Here M&F also visited a retirement home. The residents aged 75-95 had been looking very much forward to the visit. And even put forward fresh fruits for their guests. Fruits are understandably somewhat expensive in Greenland.
Christian is the oldest and he apparently don't mind taking a more active part in the official duties that the little ones, who on this occasion stayed back on the ship.
Here he took part in his very first kaffemik, though without coffee. Considering how strong the coffee is, probably a good idea! - Or he would have been climbing the mast of Dannebrog until well past midnight no doubt!
But being an older brother, Christian is used to dealing with children younger and a lot more shy than himself, so he knelt down on the floor and chatted up a couple of local children. That is, when he wasn't busy putting his arm around the neck of mother and giving her an almost suffocating hug. (As we have seen he also has a slight mischievous side and "provoked" mother teasingly by yawning and "forgetting" to put his hand in front of his mouth).
While Christian sat at the main table beside mother and munched down cakes and a little candy several of the local children walked up to him to say hi.
But it wasn't all cake and coffee. The family attended a service in the local church and also visited a kindergarten.
The family was received by a local choir and here Frederik's eyes teared up. The family was also presented with a local amulet each. Frederik immediately put his around his neck and Mary and Christian followed suit.
Dannebrog.
A whole ship where you can run around, climb ropes (slightly freaking out your nanny), lean over the railing and what not is a great place if you are a child! And it seems M&F's children soon turned the whole place into one big playground more or less build for their pleasure.
On occasion the children stayed onboard while mom and dad went ashore to take part in all sorts of official duties, often until late in the afternoon, but most of the time the children at the very least went down the phalarope to say hi to the locals.
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As for images, cute or not, well, let's keep it simple-stupid this time:
https://app.box.com/s/ugdtbv64fk7y75vni731
It was lovely to read all the details yet again and savour the beautiful pictures that went with your text. Much appreciated!
He'd have to answer to Santa about that. Seriously, I gather that hunting is an important part of their culture, and every part of the animal is used, it's not just a trophy.
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