Summary: "Easiest 1100m I've ever climbed" -- Walter.
We aren't in Ticino any more! Hike took about 5.25h... three quarters of an hour less than planned. Now, that's more like it! Showers and thunderstorms in the forecast for the afternoon, so we left early, at 8:15... but in fact we had sun coming down to the Turrahus after noon. So that was good too.
The Turrahus is a classic old mountain hotel... complete with wood floors that slope at odd angles, steep wooden stairs, and wood panelling everywhere. Oh, wood ceilings too. Lovely, and imposing, views up to the end of the valley... where we'll be hiking tomorrow on our way to Andeer. However, I think we'll do a shorter hike than planned, with about 500m less descent, to reduce the stress on various injured knees and Russ's back. It will mean that we'll take a bus to Andeer... but the spell has by now been well and truly broken, and the "every step of the way" mystique of the H2H has been abandoned for the H3H. It's the pragmatic decision, not least because of my knee, but I regret it nevertheless.
Otherwise, it has been a quiet day. We chatted a bit over a late lunch / Café & Kuchen here, then retreated to our rooms for snoozes, reading, and (in my case) a bit of blogging. I wouldn't say that we are gamed out after our two rest days, but the edge has been taken off of the obsession :-).
And meanwhile in Germany the drumbeat of violence goes on, with a machete attack and a suicide bombing yesterday. There are many different reasons for the attacks, it seems -- copycats, suicidal depression, crimes of passion, and the ideologically inspired -- but the common element is that the perpetrators were islamic immigrants or, in one case, the child of an immigrant. And this, unfortunately, will be what most people will remember... and generalize from. Which will be a tragedy for the overwhelming majority of "good" refugees and immigrants.
On the "positive" side, the old Franco-British rivalry has reasserted itself post-Brexit, with at times just one French passport control agent dealing with all of the British holidaymakers passing through Dover on the way to their summer hols on the continent. Should have been in Schengen, mates! Hmmm, maybe there is something to this European integration thingy after all :-).
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