Arrival at The White City, Ostuni

But despite the glimpse of Monopoli I am excited to hear some passengers speak of Ostuni.  A few stops later, we pull into the rather non-descript train station of Ostuni, well, non-descript compared to Monopoli.

An Italian with a gentle smile spots me stagger from the train.  I think it is Salvatore, owner of the resort who said he'd be greeting me.  But it is a handsome young man, about 30, who introduces himself to me simply as Marco.  No last names here.

Marco gives off a welcome air of calm charm as he begins a tour of the Puglia countryside as we wind our way up the narrow country roads that are lined with stone fences.

Marco explains the stone the walls comes from the rocky soil of the region when ancient farmers tilled the soil.  The homes I notice have strange roofs, pointy domes with a little ball on top. Marco tells me these are called trulos and that the homes of the region are made of the same stone as the fences and have no mortar.

The reason for the lack of mortar is that the farmers would take their homes apart whenever the tax collector was visiting from Rome to avoid taxes.  This was done in America I recall to myself for the same reason in the original colonies, not wanting to interrupt Marco's fine tour of the gorgeous Puglia countryside.

We pass through a fairy tale castle of city called Ostuni, the white City.  I want to ask Marco to stop so I can take some photos with my trusty Flip camera but I'm too tired and he says we'll be back here duing the week for the tourist thing.  I'll end up working 12 hours days without a day off covering Souldrama and never making it back.  One of my few regrets about the trip.

Here's a pic I found on the web of the amazing White City, like something out of a Tolkein novel.  Yeah, it really is this beautiful.  And if I make back to Puglia for Souldrama 2011 I will spend a day here.

Still, the interview I posted to YouTube just before leaving for Italy featuring Sheldan Nidle's prediction for a 2010 SHIFT of monumental proportions, toppling mountains, causing tsunamis, aliens, yes aliens, changing our very DNA, nags at the back of my brain.

Ostuni, I think to myself has existed peacefully for centuries.  Surely a galactic civilization that Nidle so calmly describes wreaking havoc on our world that it chilled me to my core, that you can watch here, would appreciate Ostuni's perfection, compared to our pollution and crime choked cities back in America?  Perhaps a city like Ostuni is mankind's best hope if Sheldan's wild predictions are true.

Not to say I believe even a fraction of what Sheldan says has a chance of coming true.  I just feel guilt.  Guilt that I had a small part in putting on the 55 minute of interview videos, filmed by Filippo's friend, and mine, Dorothy Donahue, onto the web and using my BuzzBroz.com skills to get them seen by 10s of thousands of people already.

Social media is so new and open. I've filmed Filippo, who has become one of my most fascinating friends, interviewing channelers, palm readers and various New Age gurus, who all seem to speak of the SHIFT centering around this era of 2012.  Some take the SHIFT literally like Sheldan, while others like the great Barnet Bain, producer of WHAT DREAMS MAY COME and THE CELESTINE PROPHECY, take a metaphorical look at the SHIFT.

But as I wondered who might be watching the Sheldan Nidle interviews, I worry that for someone with less of a Midwestern skepticism like my own, that the predictions of Galactic first contact will be scary.

This is what I am worrying about as we careen through the Italian countryside, Marco at the wheel, as I have been the whole trip from LA.  I gaze over the peaceful White City. Happy to be so blissfully far from the eccentricities of LA.

Fortunately, Marco wakes me from my waking dream/ guilt trip with a hearty invitation to a special treat!

Take a trip back to Italy with me.  The 5 star treatment of Santa Maria Del Sole began before we even reached the exclusive resort!