September 08, 2009

Caldey Gets Broadband

 

The Cistercian Brothers of Caldey Abbey upgraded last summer to 30mps broadband beamed over from the mainland. The first monastics settled on the Welsh island in the 6th century. But lately, Caldey's online perfume business has outgrown dialup. According to the lamentations of the Abbot, Father Daniel, "Patience is one of the characteristics of monastic life, but even the patience of the Brothers was being tested by our slow Internet." (If you ask me, they were an ideal candidate for cloud computing.)

I visited the monastery on a wintry Christmas weekend when I was a travel writer during the 1980s and published a sketch in Islands magazine …

Paradise is a concept invariably associated with islands. Caldey has no barrier reef, no blue lagoon or swaying palms. But there are many different kinds of islands. And many different kinds of paradise.

PS-Probably just a coincidence, but someone nicknamed "Caldey Abbey" is tagging a lot of music on Amazon.com: symphonic metal (114), melodic metal (68), progressive metal (52), power metal (29), death metal (22), gothic metal (21), epic metal (19), black metal (16), opera metal (11), neoclassical metal (10), folk metal (9), doom metal (3), fantasy metal (2)…

Sep 8, 2009 9:27:43 PM | Odyssey (travel tips, images and photos)

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Steve

Steve Barth consults to international government, NGO, academic and corporate clients. Recent work has focused on organizational learning and KM strategies in economic development and peace and security. Award-winning writer specializing in organizational intelligence and knowledge worker productivity.

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