Finally, it has stopped raining. That's because we are in Italy. We just so happen upon the lovely town of Bolzano to stay for a stopover on our way to the Lago de Garda--wow, what a treat. First, we have a 2 bedroom "suite" and this is more room than we've had in 3 months, secondly the cafe at the hotel we are staying at is tres chic. I realize this isn't the best place for us to start our re-entry into civilization after 3 months of camping, but we're going to shower and give it our best. The food is oh so good and we eat to our hearts content. We go to bed watching the U.S. Open, another luxury we've done without--TV-- and could not be happier. 

We decided to stop by the Messner Mountain Museum, those of you fellow armchair mountaineers will know who Reinhold Messner is: first to summit Everest without oxygen, first to summit all the 8000+m mountains and the list goes on. He has created this stunning, modern museum within the confines of the grounds of the Castel Firmiano (see pics). What an amazing juxtaposition of old and new, and a great history lesson in mountaineering which goes way back in the Tyrol mountains.