Tuesday, July 18, 2023

A Deep Mine and a Tall Barn

 It has come to our last day in Røros, a day for seeing some sights and performing twice! After this, it's on the road for two days, sightseeing along the way, to Bergen. From there, it will be homeward bound! 

The first thing on the agenda was a last lesson with Mari Eggen. The kids worked on the two tunes we had learned earlier, plus styling for a springleik, then one more new pols got taught. By the end of the lesson, everyone was excited for the evening's performance, where we would play together with local kids, and with the Glåmos Spelemannslag. Woo hoo! 

After lunch, we headed to Olav's Gruve, a mine that is open for visiting. It has been preserved as it was when mining operations ceased in 1972. Mary B had arranged a tour and for us to play there. We had some GPS trouble on the way, it kept trying to send us up a driveway, and I knew that wasn't right as I had been to the mine before. So, when we arrived, late, we got hustled through ahead of two regular groups. We got our hard hats and down we went. 

There are actually two parts to this mine, the older section began operations in the 17th century, that one is closer to the surface. The older part was worked in the 20th century and is deeper. It's a good walk down into the mine, several staircases and a downhill tramp on muddy, wet paths. An interesting factoid -- although the mine is not currently running, the Røros Mining Company, which owns the mine, is actively mining in other places. They left all of their equipment in Olav's Gruve so that it could potentially be reopened. 

A cart has arrived at the dumping shaft.
(Lilah's Photo)

 
On the way to the Miners' Hall we saw the dumping shaft. Rock would be hauled here, then put doen a 60 foot shaft. From there it was smashed several times more, then removed for the smelting process. 

We also saw the miners' break room. Of course, they took their lunches to work with them, and in this room, they could eat and nap. The chairs are very clever. The seats fold down in two ways. First, you can fold it so that you have a little table on which to have your lunch. Second, you can recline the seat so that you can catch a nap. However, you wouldn't want to nap too long because the foreman's station was right outside the door. The mine is cold - about 40 degrees - but this little room was heated. 

Lilah and Itsani in the miners' likely repose.
(Martha's Photo)

We finally reached the Miners' Hall where we woul dperform. We spent several minutes setting up. This meant the usual moving of stuff like chairs, but also opening our cases so that our fiddles could adjust to the wet, cold space. When we finally went to tune up it was  a mess. I was glad we were not playing any hardingfele! We also removed rocks from the stage so that there could be dancers. Then two tour groups came through. We played several tunes, and here's a polka. 

Hooray! Today the video loaded... Sometimes I don't understand my tech. 

On the way out we had a chance to get some cool pictures. Here are a couple of artsy samples! 
Flouride on walls. 
(Lilah's Photo) 

Refecting pool. 
(Itsani's photo)






















We went home for dinner. For some reason the chef divided us by age. The kids had nachos. Sue and I had reindeer stew. Somehow that doesn't quite seem fair... Our stew was, in fact, delicious! And then we put on our polo shirts, and our black slacks, and headed out to Glåmos for our last show of the tour. It would be at the Fjøs Akademiet (the Academy in the Barn) in Glåmos.


The Lilla Onstage.
(Photo by Lindsay Winfield-Chislett)
The Lilla with Mari Eggen and her students.
(Photo by Tom Sears)
















The Fjøs Akademiet is the brainchild of Lindsay Winfield-Chislett, a British flutist, choir director, and all-around interesting person. When I saw the Fjøs Akademiet last year, with Mari Eggen, I knew it was the right place for the Lilla. It's the top half of a huge barn, with superior acoustics, and perfect light. Yes! The evening had been well advertised, and it was a free event. Lindsay was selling some of her delicious baked goods - she runs a little cafe there on Wednesdays. (Her GF treats are HEAVEN). I made a mid-evening head count at got over 50 people! 

The Lilla and Glåmos Spelemannslag.
(Photo by Tom Sears)



The program order was Lilla first, and we played one tune alone and then played a couple of tunes we learned from Mari, then one more on our own. Next came Mari and her kids, and then came the Glåmos Spelemannslag. 

We got to play along with them and it was incredible! I could feel the rhythm/styling of my tunes changing, and I could finally understand how the swing really goes for this dance. So very cool!! And there were a lot of different instruments, citra, guitar, bass, accordion...so fabulous! 
(Once again your intrepid blogger is confuzled...the first video loaded fine, but this one would not. Giant sigh.) Here's a link to Dropbox so you can hear the fabulous music provided by the Lilla and the Glåmos Spelemannsag. 



Finally, the Mari Eggen Quintet took the stage, and they were so fine! It really couldn't have been much better!


Three Seattle girls dancing together. 
(Sue's Photo)

When we were done, the most amazing thing happened. The kids all started hanging out together. This was my dream life, and I was incredibly happy. They danced, played Farkle, and just were kids. It was the BEST. In the photo at the right you get a rare look at Maren, Itsani and Lilah dancing together. How cool is that? 








Lilah, Itsani, Lindsay, her helper, Maren.
(Martha's Photo)


At the end of the evening, we presented Lindsay with a Lilla T-shirt. She became an official member of a very special group. The young lady on Lindsay's right is a helper, hanging out just for fun. 

And then it was time to load the van with our tired selves, the fiddles, and miscellaneous bits and pieces, and head home to pack. 

But it didn't quite go like that...





Our magical friends. 
(Martha's photo)
We were driving down the road when what to our wondering eyes did appear, but a trio of bucks, so very near. Their antlers were magnificent, they were all mature bucks, and they came very, very close to the van. I just stopped in the middle of the road, we put the windows down, and just watched and took pictures for several minutes. It was magical, and it felt as if the reindeer had come to wish us well as we turned our eyes homeward. 



- Martha





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