[FI; 2022] Day 2 | Tampere - Moomin Day

I'm a mini-fan of Moomin - and as mentioned in my previous post, it was a impromptu decision to extend layover at Finland on the way back from Prague > Singapore. I only recalled Moomin originated from Finland at the very moment the plane was landing, hence the first thing I did when I had mobile data was to google "Moomin Finland".

Join me in my Moomin hunting / searching journey!

1. Helsinki, Hakaniemi > Tampere

Based on google it is a 2 hours journey, I will need to travel by train to the city of Tampere. Good choice of the hotel location - I had plenty public transport options to get to various train station in Helsinki.

I decided to catch the train to Tampere via Pasila Päärautatieasema! Another good decision made as Pasila was a more modern train station connected with a mall, so I could do some shopping before hopping onto the train. It was quite instagrammable place!

Me being excited of Moomin everywhere, even on toothpaste!

I got the train tickets using the machines located everywhere at the station, pretty easy to use just that they only accepts cards. Train arrived on time!

The view of the window for 2 hours, very natural sceneries~

2. Arriving Tampere City for lunch

I left Pasila around 11ish, so arrived Tampere around 1 - ready to grab lunch! As I have been away from home for long, so I was searching for Asian type of comfort food.

Whatever, https://restaurant-whatever.fi/

Itsenäisyydenkatu 5, 33100 Tampere, Finland

It was a very cool cafe named Whatever just a street across the train station! And they were very generous with everything - from sides to mains!

The service crew were amazing, and I loved everything that was served!

3. Walk over to Muumi Museonpolku (Moomin Museum)

The museum wasn't a too long walk from the station, probably a 10 mins stroll.

Me - all ready for Moomin!

Before heading in to the museum, I would suggest to stop over the park next to it - Sorsapuisto... as there is a Moomin statue!

Exact location of the statue:

33100 Tampere, Finland (Google Map)

Heading over to the Museum entrance!

Everything worked well despite being impromptu - it is free ticket day! It happens once a month, and usually every month last Friday at 2-5 pm, the counter staff will hand out the tickets. Check their website for more details!

Moomin Museum
https://www.muumimuseo.fi/en/visit-us/tickets-and-opening-hours/

Tampere-talo, Yliopistonkatu 55, 33100 Tampere, Finland

Let's gooooo!

Loved this mural so much that I ended up getting a postcard of this to frame it back at home.

Free wifi in the Museum!

There was an exhibition guide book - I suggest to take one, it will be very helpful to know Moomin better, and useful tool to take selfie with the guide book.

Photography is not allowed in the exhibition - so I'm not sharing anything. But there were 2 levels, with a lot of displays of classic scenes. It was quite interactive - the displays had a function to read out the extract of the scene in multiple languages. You can spend around 2 hours there - nothing more than that I think.

There were only 2 areas where you can take photos.

Within the exhibition here:

Outside the exhibition there:

The Museum do have a Moomin shop... everything is too cute that I had to tell myself I can only get postcards.

If you drop / send postcards via the Museum post box - your receivers will get an exclusive Moomin stamp on it.

4. Train back to Helsinki

Tampere was such a quiet city that if I planned my trip beforehand, I probably will want to stay at night over here.

Purchase your train tickets at the counter!

After 2 hours of ride... back to Helsinki but I decided to stop by the City Hall station.

5. Dinner at Helsinki City

I wanted a local food dinner, but google has been recommending me to try reindeer meat. Out of no where, I saw this local restaurant on my map which seems to have very decent food options.

Ravintola Kolme Kruunua

Liisankatu 5, 00170 Helsinki, Finland

https://kolmekruunua.fi/

I so glad I went at the right timing - they were turning down people after me as they were fully booked!

They had a bar counter which many people were drinking. A man tried to get some plain water from my table as he kinda drunk and need water badly.

I managed to get a photo of their menu on a bulletin (click to enlarge):

This was what I wanted - Läskisoosi:

It was AMAZING! I have been going around telling people that this is the best potato dish I ever had in my entire life. The pork just melts in your mouth, together with the potato and gravy. Side dish pickles was a perfect match too. It was a little on the high side but it worth every single bit of it.

That marks my day out with Moomin!