Seen from the airplane

The second leg of our three-leg flight home took a very northerly route -- perhaps not surprising, since this flight was from Amsterdam to Seattle, two somewhat northerly points.  As we took off, I saw the coasts of Denmark and Norway, and was then bummed that we were on a route that would take us north of Iceland.  By that point, clouds had taken over the view anyway, so I went to sleep.  

Woke up, noticed the map said we were over Greenland, took a peek only to see more clouds.  Back to sleep for me.

Imagine my delight on waking up from that nap and discovering that not only had the cloud cover dissipated, but that we were flying right over the northern coast of Canada, through what I think of as territory for the polar explorers who met various dire fates while searching for the Northwest Passage in the late 1800's.  Pack ice -- something I've never seen before.  Fun to watch go by from the warmth of the airplane!  I stared out the window for quite a long time.  Pictures out the plane window don't do it justice, but here are a few anyway.  One can see how it might be difficult to navigate a route through, and there is a lot less ice now than there was then.