omg! those pics are amazing!

i wonder where sam could go to a) stay online and b) have access to stuff like that...

We stayed at a hotel south of the park with Internet access, but it was crazy expensive. They have Internet access (for pay) in some of the lodges in the park. Plus there's a library with networked computers, but they limit the amount of time you can spend on those.

It would be wonderful to spend a week or more at the park, because it's so relaxing. But the best bet is probably just to spend a few days there without the computer.

Italy:-)

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=dolomites&um...

If you wanted, you could even live in places like that - maybe not quite so spectacular, but nothing to sneeze at, either.

Wow. Add that to my list of international places to visit. How many people speak at least a little English in the cities over there?

You can get by, but you won't enjoy yourself as much as if you spoke the language, same as most places.

Italy is a fantastic place to visit, it has almost as much natural variety as California (mountains, rivers, lakes, estuaries, the arid south), with a quantity of culture, history and man-made things unequaled in the US - or pretty much anywhere else for that matter.