Friday, 21 October 2022: Back to the Future Day

Today we’re driving to London. And despite all the waiting in front of red lights, I love it. In the second photo we are waiting in front of the traffic lights at Piccadilly Circus.

We start, as we often do, at the Lego store in Leicester Square. It has been enlarged since our last visit and now offers more than twice as much space on the first floor. There is now also a small museum area with old Lego sets and even older wooden Lego toys. You can now personalise a Lego minifigure and have your own drawing or text printed on its torso. And the interior decoration has also been redesigned and is now all about Harry Potter… and James Bond. A very colourful tree is the new eye-catcher at the entrance. Fun details can be seen on it from the first floor: a construction site and a castle behind a rainbow.

In China Town, Gabi really wants to stop by a certain chicken restaurant and a bakery that offers stuffed buns and cakes. I prefer to stick to the Poke Bowl from the Japan Centre. From the picnic spot in the pedestrian zone, we then head to the Forbidden Planet, which we visit at least once on every trip.

Finally, the highlight of the day! Today, 21 October, is Back to the Future Day, or Future Day for short, which is why we booked tickets for the Back to the Future musical today. We had already seen it at the opening night in Manchester, but that was two and a half years ago. In the meantime, most of the cast have changed too. And today it was announced that the musical will also be performed on Broadway in New York from March 2023.

Tonight’s performance is very special. Not only is Back to the Future co-writer and co-creator Bob Gale here (5th photo), but so is Harry Waters Jr (6th photo). He played the band leader Marvin Berry in the film and sings along with the musical “Marvin Berry” at the end of the musical (last photo). That’s really great. I also meet a lot of people from the BTTF Musical Facebook group, including Admin Tony (7th photo). And of course I’m far from the only one coming in BTTF costume tonight: I see lots of Marty McFlys a few Doc Browns, Lorraines, and family members of Marty. Great Scott!