BR TO ALYS RUSSELL, [6 AUG. 1909]
BRACERS 21078. ALS. McMaster
Proofread by K. Blackwell

Friday morning.
In the train to Toblach.

Dearest Alys

We are taking the train to begin with, and shall then walk up a valley towards Cortina. Everything is most pleasant in this region — it is arranged for pedestrians, and many of the inns can only be reached on foot. The people are most pleasant and friendly, what Germans in general must have been before Bismarck. There is a pleasant sense of social equality; the people who keep the inns sit down and talk to the guests, and everybody seems full of geniality. The weather is not what could be wished, and the best country is still to come. Our general plan is to make expeditions eastward from successive points on the Brenner railway leading gradually southward. I rather mind being so long without letters, but Sanger has been inexorable. Everything is very cheap, and we both keep well in spite of wettings.

Thine aff.
Bertie