Gabi, Chrige and I arrive at Zurich Airport more than two hours before departure, and yet we suddenly find ourselves running out of time: checking in takes far more patience and waiting than necessary, and our boarding assistance doesn’t turn up at the gate on time. After that, however, things move quickly. We’re seated and take off almost on time.

After a pleasant Edelweiss flight, complete with a surprise Biberli biscuit and sandwich, we land in Edinburgh, where everything goes smoothly. In a BYD Sealion 5 hire car, we’re soon on our way to the hotel. There, our eyes widen when we hear scraping noises as we turn into the hotel car park: the tyre is scraping against a part of the wheel arch when I turn left and brake. That definitely shouldn’t be happening – and certainly not with a brand-new car.

So we check into the hotel and settle into our rooms before I head back to the airport: I want a different car, not risking a flat tyre or worse. So, just under an hour later, I’m on my way back to the hotel in a Vauxhall Grandland. And I’m a bit disappointed: because this car too has an automatic gearbox and isn’t a manual, as I’d actually booked. Instead, it has a stowaway in the rear window: an insect must have got stuck in there when they built the car.

By the time I get back to the hotel, our dinner almost arrives as well. Gabi and Chrige have picked out something nice from Nando’s and ordered it via Deliveroo whilst I was on my way. Over dinner, we go over our plans for tomorrow and then say goodnight.