Greenland from the Air

Sept. 3rd. Berlin. I woke up at 5:30 am and packed the last of my gear, left my little apartment in Schoeneberg into the driving autumn rain and hailed a cab to Tegel airport. My route took me to Vancouver via Frankfurt and Calgary. Three planes, all from Airbus: a 321, a 330-300 and another 321.

The first leg was bumpy and breakfast was not served - the pilot said he was sure we would appreciate not having it in our laps. On the second and longest leg we flew over the Faroe Islands and Greenland and then followed Hudson's Bay across Nanuvut, Manitoba, Saskatchewan before crossing into Alberta and landing in Calgary. It was a clear day and the mountains of Greenland lay 11 kilometers below us as we roared along in our isolated aluminum capsule at 925kph. Glaciers lumber across millennia between windswept peaks and calve in the cold green North Sea. I can't watch a movie through when this panorama is unfolding beneath me so I just sit there going snowblind with my eyes glued to the window the same as I would have when I was ten. I wonder how many polar bears are down there hunting seals. How many Narwhals are cruising through the seas. I do not know if I will ever set foot on Greenland. I would love to. But for now I am headed for a northern destination some way south, in the forests and mountains of northern British Columbia. But first we fly south to make a short stop in Calgary, make our tedious way through Canada customs before taking a smaller plane over the Rockies, Okanagan and Coast Mountains to Vancouver where my brother meets me, takes me out for a quick bite at a golf club and then to the ferry where I meet my Dad to ride over to Victoria on Vancouver island. By this time I'm feeling pretty tired.