Monday, May 10, 2010

My World Tuesday

Today I went down Memory Lane. I went back to my birth place where I spent the first 23 years of my life. I had a happy childhood growing up in a coal mining town close to the German border. The mines are all closed down and there are few signs of mining past. The very first coal mine in Europe was at Rolduc in Kerkrade and goes way back in history. Rolduc was an abbey founded by the Augustians in the 12th century. It has a great history, has been Dutch, German, French, etc.

But this is about my memories. In my time it was a boys boarding school and a Roman Catholic seminary. I was at a girl's highschool and in those days we were not even allowed to look into a boys direction! But twice a year we had a concert at Rolduc by the Limburg Symphony Orchestra. There we were boys and girls together chaperoned and escorted by nuns and teachers. The conductor of the orchestra was Andre Rieu, yes the father of THE Andre Rieu.
Today I went back to see if much had changed. It was about 30 years since my last visit. It had changed a lot. Rolduc is partly a hotel and a conference centre now.

Please click on the picture to read the text


The maine building an oldest part


This used to be the farm belonging to the abbey. Main building and stables are reconstructed and converted into offices.


Driveway to the entrance


The total environment has been changed, modernised, it is still majestic but not as respectable as it was decades ago. It is much bigger than I can show here.
I found this airial view on the internet.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing with us this personal and I'm guessing highly emotional visit to your hometown. I am hoping I could do the same some day.

Sylvia K said...

What a fun trip back! Love your photos and the air view is stunning! Thanks for sharing your trip with us, Cybele! Hope you have a great week!

Sylvia

soulbrush said...

great memories, i am also called jossie, although my name is jocelyn. hi from one jossie to another jossie.

Carver said...

What an interesting post and great shots of where you grew up. That's great that you were able to go back for a visit.

Rajesh said...

Very interesting post. Wonderful views of the place.

Noel Morata said...

aloha,

very interesting personal history of this place, its huge, thanks for sharing

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Cybele: Very nice photos of the place that brings back found memories.

Martha Z said...

Very interesting, these buildings have seen a lot of uses over the years.

Indrani said...

That is nice walking down the memory lane. Did it sadden you to see the change? Sometimes I feel the old ways were better.
Nice shots.

Unknown said...

i hope remembering the good ol' days made you smile. lovely architecture.

LadyFi said...

Impressive building!

Unknown said...

thank you for sharing your world.

eileeninmd said...

Great post and photos and a cool way to look into your world.

Anonymous said...

Like your post and that was a big building (but beautiful)! I liked the entrance with the avenue, would like to have one in front of our house! :)

NatureFootstep said...

that´s a big change. For good or bad......hard to say. It is good they are still used though. :)

diane b said...

An amazing building and story.I loved the tree lined driveway shot.

Pearl Maple said...

Beautiful photos and interesting old building full of history, the tree lined avenue looks like a fabulous welcome.

Reader Wil said...

Wat een interessante post! Er is pas een TV serie over de Limburgse mijnen geweest. "Tien Torens Diep"naar een boek van Jacques Vriens. Een neefje van mij heeft 't script van een paar afleveringen geschreven.
Bedankt voor je bezoek. Je foto's vind ik erg mooi!