In 2001, travel writer Lisa Alpine was on a trip to Northern Italy. She's meeting up with other writers, even teaching a dance

workshop, but after a few days of wine and pasta and

Tiramisu, Italy, Lisa was craving a more spiritual experience and she'd heard about this place nearby.

This place called Daminher.

It was a sort of self-contained eco-spiritual artistic community slash commune outside of Turin. So she thought she'd check it out.

I took a train from Bologna and then a taxi from the small town nearby to

Dominhore and I get to the front reception desk and this man introduces himself

and he goes hello my name is Platipus. And I was wondering, what? What did he just call himself? I said, could you please repeat that? Blatipus.

As it turned out, everyone in Dahminher

gives themselves a new name, plant or animal,

to help symbolize their oneness with the natural world.

So that was just my introduction to how very unusual this place was.

And they have their own currency, so Plypus that instructed me at the front desk to use

my ATM card in their ATM machine, which would give me Dominoirian coins.

Platypus gave Lisa the keys to her room,

but before she could see it in person,

Platypus looked out the window

and saw a tour bus idling outside.

Quick, he said, go join them.

So Lisa climbed on the bus.

And they were all British psychics, older women in lavender and little flowery hats and

and I just got thrown into their tour. And as the British psychics told Lisa, she had not in fact joined their tour.

...