Ah, dear readers, plans are futile. They exist only to be changed as it seems. While I have been fighting my cold and mulling Berry's offer, or plead, to stay and work for him, Arturo asked me if I was willing to come to Soveltra and work next week because there are so many reservations and too little staff. I decided to help out at Soveltra. I'm in the region and have time, on my way to Pian di Crest I would have passed Soveltra anyway and I wasn't too happy with walking all those paths again. And I am not well. I drove down in the car with Berry and Elfriede today from Cava to Biasca, avoiding a descent of 2000m, and Berry was kind enough to give us a lift to Cadenazzo, where we took the train to Locarno and sat at the bar at the station to discuss the situation. I wasn't sure if I was fit enough to walk, I wanted to move and would have enjoyed walking together with my new Dutch friend, but then, in the end, I decided to take up Arturo's offer to come and stay at his house and then walk (or fly) up to Soveltra on Friday evening or Saturday morning. I went to the chemists to get some medication for my cough, went to the bank, met with Arturo at the bar near the station and had a white wine and then caught the bus to Lodano, where Arturo and his family live. This is the old part of Lodano:

A warm welcome at Casa Rothen, Emanuela, Arturo's wife is already used to me showing up when something goes wrong. I am very grateful for this hospitality, apart from the luxury of a hot shower and a washing maschine and the cats. This is Lucky, one of the two Rothen cats, he likes potato peels: