Røros - pt I

I needed to share with you oure travelling experiences, from here to there, the places where we have been(me and the other foreign students) and the funny and less funny things we were through!

Some weeks ago we went to Røros, a well known small city in the region of Sør-Trøndelag. It is very popular, due to it's "made into a museum" copper mines and for many UNESCO World Heritage site.
We left early in the morning and drove north, for 3 hours. The sun was rising in the heart of the taiga. The hills, the trees, the mountains, some peaks covered in snow... The untouched forestry and landscape! I felt that mankind still didn't put theyr clutches on such an idillic landscape!
It was so strange for me, because I was driving, and for so many kilometers, I didn't see one single house or car. We thought we were alone in the world. Freedom was the word of the day.
When we arrived to Røros, we tried to visit as many places as we could: the old wooden town, which I must say it is very beautiful and it has nothing to do with other old cities I've been, across Europe. The grass over the wooden houses still impresses me!

There was such a beautiful cathedral we tried to visit. We got inside, looked around, and when we stepped forward, we were asked to pay 20NOK(2,5€ approx.). Ok, we decided to visit the church another day... We are cheap, poor international students! We don't have money to pay to walk around inside churches(we could see the whole church from the door,anyway).

Near one museum(we didn's visit, because it was expensive) there were some remains of the "trash"(??) from the mines. Small brown stone hills, inside the village. It definitelly looked like a moon landscape. There was no life, at all over these small hills! On the top, the wind cut my face like knifes. Røros is also known to be one of the coldest place in Norway!
Tired of walking, we decided to have lunch: eating bread with sausages and nutella in a prking lot, near a supermarket! For those who know, this is the portuguese way to travel around: always take your own food, because it's cheaper!

With our stomaches full, we decided to visit other mines, but we got lost and ended up in Sweden. I must tell that the landscapes I saw, were some of the best I've ever seen. Yellow leaves, still lakes, snowy hilltops, deepblue sky. All the best emotions you can get: inner peace, quietness, purity, inocence...
On our way to "the mines" we stopped at a gas station, in a small village, near the border. It seemed one of those american movies gas stations, in the middle of nowhere, with kids playing outside, empty store, few cars parked on a pub near the station, empty road, no houses. Inside, a strange beep calls the owner. I thought I wasn't in Norway anymore, but in Texas or some american state. After a brief talk with a young man(young people in this part of the country?) we discvered Sweden was just up ahead and the mines were 25kms behind us.

Sweden: I was so amazed, happy like a kid, when I saw the Lappland flag! Back in my country, being in Lapland is being so far far away. Lappland became a sinonym for distance. Even Brazil looks like closer, than Lappland, in our minds! By the way, everyone asked if I've seen Santa!
Alcohol and tobacco bought, back to lil'o'Norway.

To be continued...

Moonscape in Røros

The Old Town