We’ll take it easy today. Or rather: I still have a few administrative things to do at the hotel. On Monday, two motions will be discussed in the Grand Council, the parliament of the Canton of Berne, for which I came up with the idea (people with disabilities need to be able to use public electric car chargers as well, which is not the case in Switzerland, and the need to keep the amount of disabled parking spaces when reducing the amount of regular parking spaces). But there seems to be resistance from the Swiss right wing party. So I’m writing an e-mail to around 75 members of the Grand Council, from the centre to the political right, to explain the most important arguments. I hope it helps!

For lunch, we fancy something from Pret. According to Google Maps, the nearest branch is in Basingstoke, about 20 minutes away from us, in the shopping centre that we always like to visit. So off we go. And leave the motorway again a little later when we spot a Pret sign at the first service station. This is so much the better! Not only can we eat here, but we can also charge LucY’s batteries at the Supercharger. A little later, I bite into a ham and cheese toastie while Gabi eats some soup and LucY suckles on the electricity.

We still drive on to Basingstoke. We are pleased to see that more shops are open in the shopping centre than on our last visit – even if there are still several empty spaces. In the Apple Store, I take a close look at the Apple Vision Pro. Apple’s mixed reality headset is still not available in Switzerland, which is why we have never seen it in real life. When I see that you can book a demonstration, I ask a member of staff. And I can actually make an appointment for later that day.

So we continue to look around and eat the doughnuts we brought back from the service station. Then it’s time for my glimpse into the future. An Apple store employee explains how the device works and guides me through the various functions. The Apple Vision Pro is itself a tiny computer that contains all the usual programmes and apps. These can be opened and the content worked on. The ‘screen’ for this appears in the real environment. It can be placed anywhere and then ‘left’ there while you use other programmes. The real environment can also be hidden as required. For example, if the hustle and bustle in the airport departure hall becomes too much, you can turn the wheel and the real environment gives way to an artificial one, such as a calming panoramic view of Iceland. Video games, films and other experiences that really immerse you are particularly great. I’m suddenly in the middle of a herd of elephants in Africa, watching a high-wire acrobat over a gorge, standing on the football pitch at the final match, swimming with sharks, Alicia Keys singing a concert in front of me, and much more. I can also watch 3D videos and take panoramic photos, which my iPhone can already do. In future, children’s birthdays, trips and much more can be captured and relived again and again.

The technology is impressive and, despite its weight, the device doesn’t feel heavy on my head. It’s just a shame that you can only ever experience all this on your own and not together with your partner or family. And I would certainly have to clarify whether corrected lenses would even be possible for my eyeglass prescription. There are lots of lenses available for the on-site demonstration, but they don’t go beyond maybe 5 dioptres, while I’d need 10+. So my experience was quite blurry, but I was still able to enjoy it.

For dinner, we took a ramen noodle soup from Wagamama back to the hotel for me and a chicken meal from Slim Chicken for Gabi. We had been looking forward to both ever since we returned home from our last holiday.