On November 8th we flew up to Iqaluit so that on the 9th I could run with the Olympic torch in the coldest place I'd ever been in my life.
note* some of the photos may appear cropped, that just means they can be enlarged and viewed in full simply by clicking them!
The airport resembles a Yellow Submarine, and instead of your bags loading onto a rotating conveyor belt they just get loaded out of the plane, placed on a conveyor belt that goes straight for twenty feet then drops the bag at the end.
This is the Four Corners building, there are only about three four way intersections in Iqaluit, and all the roads eventually come to an end as there is no way to get there other than plane, large ship, or for the really extreme, dog sled.
One of my favorite things about Iqaluit was the interesting architecture.
Because of the permafrost only one of the buildings has a basement, and that's the school- all other buildings are build on stilts that are drilled into the ground.
Iqaluit is also right next to the ocean, that has already frozen over in early November.
Taking a nice stroll along the beach...
Because Iqaluit is so difficult to access nearly every car that has gone there has never left, and so just outside of the community there is tons of scrap cars crushed together, and some just left out.
Other than the ocean, Iqaluit is surrounded by tundra... for miles it's all you can see.
While we were there the sun would rise at 7:40am and set at 2:45pm. The temperature was -19, and felt like -31... this was during the day, while the sun was at it's highest.
This is where the Olympic flame ceremony was to take place, kind of charming.
This is the original Hudson's Bay Company.
Signs
North Mart is similar to WalMart only geared towards Iqaluit living, so they sell high end parkas, gloves, boots, etc... Being from "The South", we didn't anticipate how cold it was going to be and ended up having to get some supplies.
Some of the locals...
The women carry their children in what is called an amauti... it's adorable.
Too cold for mail boxes?
Final stop: Frozen Arctic Char!
In this little shop with a tiny sign and two freezers inside you can buy an Arctic Char to take on the plane with you! The idea is, that by the time you get to your destination the char has thawed out and it's ready to cook!
We had a lot of fun with Charlie!
Iqaluit is one of those places you just have to go to experience, hopefully this blog will inspire some people to go check it out!
ALSO:
VIDEO TO COME! I JUST HAVE TO FIND OUT HOW TO POST THEM! CHECK BACK SOON!
