Moomintastic

We have been to the Moomin Museum, which features Tove Jansson's original artwork and dioramas made by her partner, Tuulikki Pietila. I was charmed by the model of the Moomins' house. Had not realised that the Moomins had such a bizarre origin: Jansson had an argument with her brother about Immanuel Kant, as you do, and drew a rude picture of a horrible troll on his lavatory wall, entitled 'Kant.' The troll, modified, later became....Moomintroll.

Finncon is now on its second day - we've been able to see quite a bit of Tampere, however. We have visited Harald, which is a Viking-themed restaurant chain, although not perhaps entirely authentic... I don't think the Vikings had ice cream and they certainly didn't have potatoes! However, the food was excellent (perch, for me, and a starter 'shield' which included bear sausages). Last night we went to a 100 year old restaurant on the river, and had herring and in T's case, a sort of potato hash. The food here is excellent, and we're enjoying Tampere, which is a small, friendly, leafy city. The convention is going well - really good to meet new people and catch up with old friends.