Sunday, August 22, 2010

Moomin World: Pleasuredome of Innocence

Every once in a while a body needs something light to refresh itself, something not too taxing or demanding. After weeks of being immersed in Stalin's purges and pogroms, Putin's fatal indiscretions and brooding Russian existentialism, it was time for the kind of change that not even vodka can offer. When Yuko and I arrived in Helsinki we took a trip to the land of plushy trolls and bucolic innocence - Moomin World (Muumimaailma in Finnish). It's a magical place that sweeps you up into its stately pleasuredome the moment you enter its gates and rolls you back out on a whiff candyfloss a few hours later.

It's all based on the novels and comics that Tove Jansson originated back in the 1940s. The Moomins have since become an international sensation - they're very popular in Japan - and are scheduled to be turned into a film, "Moomins and the Comet Chase".
Moomin World is in Naantali, a small seaside town about 45 minutes outside of Turku. The Moomins live on their own tiny island in a bay linked by a bridge to the mainland. It's not immediately accessible or that well advertised, which is how it should be with these types of folks...

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