On our way into the city, we drive past Buckingham Palace and along The Mall – the wide red road that still has no marked lanes. At least the locals know exactly where they need to go. We park near Leicester Square and start with the Lego Store. We buy only one thing: an umbrella featuring old and new Lego logos. And we’re delighted by the many displays of sets, where it’s never quite clear from the photos just how small or large they actually are, or where the intricate details only become visible up close. Take, for example, the Tintin moon rocket.

We pop into the nearby Japan Store and pick up some sushi for a late night supper. Then, we make our way through Chinatown to Uniqlo, then to the lovely Japanese bakery – with no queue today – to the Apple Store, and via Covent Garden to Seven Dials. At Seven Dials Market, a former banana warehouse, we treat ourselves to a light lunch: we share a burger and chips. After all, we’ve booked a VERY early dinner.

After lunch, we visit Forbidden Planet, before Gabi takes me to a special place: hidden behind an unassuming entrance is a large hall lined with screens all around the walls and even on the ceiling. Various animations and videos are playing here, and anyone who fancies it can sit on the benches and watch. Now, off to Foyles bookshop for a quick look!

And now, off we go for an early dinner at Hawksmoor. We’re both having the two-course menu, one with a starter and one with a dessert. So we share a Caesar salad, which here is made with anchovies instead of bacon, and with what must be the largest salad leaves we’ve ever seen. It’s all served topped with Parmesan. With the sirloin steaks, we have chips and a baked sweet potato. For dessert, we chose the sticky toffee sundae.

We had dinner so early because we’re going to see a musical, Beetlejuice, and musicals always start at 7.30 pm. The musical is lots of fun. It’s heavily based on the 1980s horror comedy, but has plenty of its own quirks. In that respect, it’s very similar to the Back to the Future musical. However, as Gabi tells me, it wasn’t inspired by that – it actually started two years earlier: so it’s probably the other way round. In any case, it’s a brilliant show. And I put on my newly bought Beetlejuice socks straight away.