"Smug" perhaps best sums up our mood. In a few hours, all being hunky-dory with Ryanair, we would be in Siena, tanning our hides, sipping prosecco and pondering which ristorante to grace with our euros.

And so there we promptly were, together with the entire population of Milwaukee and legions of Italian children who, in lieu of imbibing draughts of dreary history, took to harassing the pigeons which flock to Il Campo – venue of the famous horse race – to fatten up on discarded pizza. All was extraordinarily well with the world.