#london moomin shop

[moominpup]

Some family of mine went to London & brought me back some cute things from the London Moomin Shop!

Hope everyone is doing well <3

⁺˚⋆｡°✩₊✩°｡⋆˚⁺ ⁺˚⋆｡°✩₊✩°｡⋆˚⁺ ⁺˚⋆｡°✩₊✩°｡⋆˚⁺

[moomimania]

I'm travelling this week, so my tablet has been switched out with a pocket sketchbook for some traditional doodles on the go ☀️

And I've been so fortunate to visit TWO Moomin shops this week! Both equally lovely and dangerous for one's wallet 👀

The interior of the Covert Garden shop has just been renovated and it looks great! Sadly didn't get any pictures without other people, so I won't post them here. But I can highly recommend visiting to see for yourselves!

[lulu-spooks]

London antics :)

[greenteacryptid]

Before leaving Camden, we HAD to visit the Moomin shop, and Cheese made a friend

Leaving London: it was time to pack up and drive a few hours to visit family friends in Kent

(Doesn't she look SO comfortable)

The 2nd bnb had some really funky decor :3

Of course, we had to visit Rochester Castle

I didn't get any good shots of cheese that showed the scale/height of the Castle bcs I was SO nervous of dropping her a long way down into what used to be a cesspit ._.

Day 1 in Kent:

We had a burger for brunch (vegetarian as to not offend cheese), visited some friends, then got a smoothie :3

We then moved to our final bnb and had a dinner to save my bank account

STAY TUNED FOR MORE CHEESE

3/?

[kaggsy59]

Gardening Bloomsberries, stationery hunting - plus a book or two!! 🤣

Popping onto the blog today to share a few adventures from my trip to London at the weekend! I’m lucky enough to live within a reasonable travelling distance from the Big Smoke – in fact, the current services are working very efficiently, with the fast trains taking just over an hour – so this means I can take advantage of shopping and gallery-visiting opportunities. Saturday’s visit was because…

[oatyy-yy]

I went to the moomin shop in camden / London today and it was so cute !! ✶

Had to stop myself from splurging woopsies

Anyways here's what I bought!!

These are some things in the shop that were very silly :p

Byebye ꩜

[skruttet]

I'm going to london on thursday & friday but the moomin shop won't be finished renovating until june, what a shame 😩

[cocoasnail]

We went to London this weekend and visited the Moomin Shop in Covent Garden but everything was so expensive I didn't buy anything lol. It was also too crowded to properly look around. There was a queue to the Moomin Shop! Unbelievable.

Kind of regret not getting at least something small like the Moominpapa cookie cutter (not pictured).

[flowercrown-hobbit]

Hobitti - illustrated by Tove Jansson

I love my Finnish edition of the Hobbit. I got this one from the moomin shop in London. The illustrations are beautiful and recognisable as made by Tove.

[magn-animously]

Is it really Jon and Martin?

We all know that the TMAGP takes place in parallel universe that's similar to the TMA universe and our own universe: we've got our Magnus Institute, the technology seems to be the same, the popular culture and language sound familar...

Which has lead to some (many?) people speculate that if there is a Magnus Intitute of this world, should there not be also alternate universe versions of Jon and Martin and Elias? If yes, what would happen if the computer versions met their TMAGP-AU twins?

One theory that would avoid creating a weird "hey you look... familiar" situation a la that one episode in the Moomins (below) is that Norris and Chester are not Jon and Martin themselves. I don't know how many people have thought about this, but there was at least this post by feathered-serpents that argued only part of Jon and Martin were pulled through the cosmic hole: their voices, which had been trapped in the tapes. I really like that idea and it would certainly solve the "who are you" "please don't scream I know it's weird but I am you" situation (albeit funny, it could be difficult to solve without any pipe murder incidents - kill your double, you know). However... My biggest problem with this theory is that I'd expect the voices stay robotic, computer-like, throughout the statements. I know there's all kind of spooky things involved but it feels to me like reliving the fear and voice acting the story requires more personhood than an echo of a voice could have, and I bet we all noticed how their voices changed when they got to the statement part of the cases.

(It's in Finnish but you'll get the idea. The dialogue can be summarised as "you look like me" "that's because I am you!" Replace them with Jon and Martin and Elias.)

If we believe Jon and Martin are Norris and Chester, or at least Jon and Martin enough to be self-aware and have an identity, we go back to the piper-murder-your-doubles problem. But here I think people forget a few facts we've been given so far.

There is Magnus Institute in this universe, so it makes sense there would also be Jon and Martin. There was also the story of Anya Villette who got a VIP trial of cosmic hole transportation. She confimed there was a Hill Road Top house in both universes, and that she could find her friends in this alternate (to her) universe as well. So far so good... Except that she didn't say I talked to my friends. She said "I’ve tried to talk to my friends about it. Those of my friends I can find, but they seem distant, like they don’t really know me. Everything is just… wrong. I can’t find my favourite coffee shop. And I don’t know who you people are." This seems to suggest that not everybody has a copy in both universes. Maybe this is just A Feature, or maybe they've died, or maybe they live in some other city - look at the Institute, which in TMAGP universe is in Manchester, not London! So we could have Jon and Martin in this world, but it's not guaranteed they'd live in London or even be alive anymore. There's also a chance they just... never existed here. .

We don't know how much different the history of TMAGP universe is from TMA universe. We already know some things are changed: the Institute was located in Manchester, not London, and burnt down in the 90s, which didn't happen in TMA universe. We also know the fears were a later update to the world, although time shenanigans might be happening here; look at Anya Vilette saying "I went to clean that house on April the 23rd, 2009 which, according to all of you, is tomorrow. But it can’t be. That was two weeks ago." Since it's not just place-hopping but time-hoppin as well, there's no guarantee that cosmic hole transportation takes all the passengers to the same date in their destination. Maybe the Fears arrived just in time to torment the dinosaurs (I know, I know, i'm sorry to give you this thought!) and Martin and Jon got out in the year 2023. Or it could be the Fears have existed only for a few years or even arrived at the same time with Martin and Jon in -23, and the OAROAROSD whatever its name is was founded for... just spooky things people had experienced but weren't true. We don't know yet. Moreover, different history means that Jon and Martin's pasts were also different in this universe. Remember Anya Villette again and how she described people she had met in TMA universe: "People I thought I knew, but they were different." This is especially true for Jon. It's easy to forget that he didn't start his spooky jorney when Elias/Jonah gave him a promotion. He didn't start the jorney even when he joined the Institute. No, he was chosen by the Web when he was still a child. A big part of his life, he was guided towards the Eyepocalypse. But that didn't happen in this universe. There's a chance the Web didn't even exist in his childhood, and if it did, it had no reason to do anything to him. She had already achieved her goal of opening up the cosmic hole transportation. She had no need for Jon in this universe. (At least no need that we'd know of yet.) Which means that even if TMA!Jon and TMAGP!Jon were to meet, the conversation would not be an easy one. TMAGP!Jon could live in different city or even different country, have no idea of any spooky businesses, get pretty scared by a sudden appearance of his alternate universe self who both knows and Knows everything about him, and have no idea what the Magnus Institute is/was. It would not be easy to convince him everything's fine, that he can trust his double and his double's boyfriend, and to explain just what had happened and why they were there and why TMA!Jon knows so much and why this is not a bad thing (honestly, TMA!Jon and Martin would probably agree that it is a bad thing). .

Finally, we don't know how much Jon and Martin have changed. It's been a year, apparently, since they arrived in TMAGP universe. We know that A) only the Fears were supposed to get the ticket to the new cosmic hole transportation journey, since even the oldest avatars like Simon Fairchild were left behind B) humans did not fare well with the cosmic universe travel. Look at Anya Villette again: she seemed to have disappeared after a while (although this could be just an indication that her double had slightly different name in TMA universe, like Anna Villette or something, and that's why Jon couldn't find her or her double) C) Jon and Martin are now in a computer?? So, whether you believe it was just their voices that got through or if you'd like to think it is them, they must've changed a lot since we last heard of them. And I'm really curious to hear how and how much they've changed. How much of the Jon and Martin we knew remains? P.s. Since we could argue Martin died during the whole explosion-cosmic-transportation, and we know he was marked by the Eye and Lonely... Could he be an avatar now? If yes, which entity?

[chiimi-png]

First full day in London - Went to the British Museum, then left for Covent Garden ( I saw the Moomin shop and almost died but my parents were on a hurry so I couldn’t go in) and lastly, went to the Tower of London

[toomuchracket]

i miss flatmate matty as well 💔💔💔 i just need them doing like super domestic things like going furniture shopping (or for decorations or something) together or like painting one of their rooms together and it’s just super cute 😭😭

SO not the right time of year for this but... christmas decoration shopping in your first year of living together my GOD!!!! it's only a few months since you started sharing the flat, and you're both going back home for actual christmas, but you figure it might be nice to decorate the flat to get into the festive spirit anyway. there's definitely a debate about real vs. artificial christmas tree that matty loses, because getting a fir tree into an east london flat is a herculean task (but when you move into your bigger house in years to come, real all the way), but everything else is as plain sailing as it could be if you were being domestic as hell with the person you're pining for lol. but you make a whole day out of buying decorations - you traipse around shops in various parts of london, giggling at how cheesy it all is, picking up quirkier ornaments and wreaths in spitalfields market, going for some really boujee shit (and moomins!) in covent garden, breaking up the day with a nice lunch and a drink somewhere, then getting hot chocolates to go as you continue shopping. it's such a wholesome day, and matty's battling the urge to hold your hand the whole time - he does, at one point, when he nearly loses you in the crowds of people in the tube station, and your heart breaks at how right it feels, shattering when he lets go. as soon as you're home, it's go time for the decorations; wreaths and tinsel and advent calendars first, then assembling the tree, then adding lights and baubles. matty takes a pic of you with the lights and threatens to make it an album cover because "look how cool and hot and indie you look, babe!" lol, and you have to fight the urge to squeal at him all messy-haired and grinning as he adds the angel to the top like "look, it's mini you". yeah, it's so sweet, but so painful for you both lmao <3

[asterlizard]

UK Trip October 2023 (Part 11)

We return to London!

As we continued to London, and passed by Abergavenny, it started to rain. Mum's friend happened to remember a song 'Abergavenny' by Marty Wilde at this point, and played it on her phone. We made some snide comments when he sang 'sunshine forever, lovely weather'.

Once we got to London, we travelled by bus to nearby Tower Bridge (ate at Pizza Express, another yum!) and went for a stroll down there. We also saw someone searching for something with a torch by the river???

We also saw what looked like a rave party with modern music playing at the Globe Theatre (I can only imagine Shakespeare's characters in costume having a modern kind of party haha)

I held my phone like a vise when taking photos where they could fall a long height or into the water.

Headed back home for the night (a tourist asked us what bus to take while getting a little too close for comfort (especially considering I wasn't wearing a mask at the moment))

Time change that night, so I got an extra hour of sleep. Also mum's friend made us a bowl of fruit salad every morning (thankfully not mixed together which I'm not keen on) and the fruit was so juicy and good, I tried to savour them as much as possible during my final days there 😭

The next day, we took a brief detour to see Blenda, who turned 101! (mum's friend made Welsh cakes for her because she's also Welsh) She's a cute little lady, but also has a sharp wit about her! She also was visited by a couple of her friends, also cute old ladies, one of which was from Hong Kong and brought some store bought pie cookies (chocolate banana, and honey, we tried the former which I liked, but mum and her friend didn't really care for it) Blenda wouldn't hold back from telling her first friend to (lightheartedly) go away when she was taking her time with leaving (she was packing for a trip to Japan the next day) or telling her second friend that she doesn't want any more food gifts because she has so much. She also talked about how she wouldn't be afraid to mow down the street in her wheelchair if she had her way, but she still would have to watch out for distracted youngsters on their devices. Blenda was a hoot!

After then, mum's friend had to go to a meeting with her fellow tour guides, which she claimed would be pretty long and boring, so she let us to spend some time outside. So we walked along Soho, walking up and down Drury Lane, King's Way, Aldwych, and briefly encountered the British Museum. We mostly looked at the menus of the restaurants we passed by, which looked pretty good, but alas couldn't stop at because we already ate.

We also found this giant upside down globe. Honestly, if we stopped here first, I think it would have taken me the full 1.5-2 hours to wait for mum's friend's meeting to finish!

When mum's friend was just about done, we went back to the building she was at and we wandered into Covent Garden, saw a witty street performer who got everyone to encourage him to swallow a long balloon (which I thought looked like a hattifattener) Also walked past a young singer nathanreeve05, heard someone sing opera on the stairs below (even though he dressed very casually) and by chance encountered and went to a Moomin shop and bought some Snufkin socks (I would have liked to have a mug, but 1: it was expensive, 2: we weren't certain how well it would have travelled)

Had tuna pasta at home for dinner, which brought me back to my early college years, which I made for my lunches

Halloween! Side note: In the UK, you let trick or treaters know you'll have sweets for them if you leave a pumpkin by your window. Meanwhile in the US, you just leave your front light on.

Went for our morning walk, and I saw a yellow bell pepper with a face carved in it as a makeshift pumpkin xD

'If you write a story, this is where it takes place'

Went to the British Museum (saw some street performers doing a rendition of Ghost Town by The Specials while heading over there)

With most of history being serious, it's nice to see proof that children have always been playing games.

Hello old friend

Mosaic duck!

I admire how tiny these are, the one in the middle is a bit bigger than my thumb!

We visit the next exhibit in the next post here: [link]

[inatelescopelens]

london 6th december

As today’s weather promised to be the best we were likely to see in the foreseeable future, we decided to take a trip up to Camden Town to visit the market, somewhere in London I had not been before. The walk from the station, though, offered a familiar view of touristic gimmicks and souvenir shops reminiscent of a seaside town, delightfully tacky. This theme continued across the waters of the canal in the market itself, awash with all the usual mass-produced trinkets. Every now and then the pattern was broken by a shopfront of genuine independence—vinyl and CDs, vintage clothes, original designs. It was the structure itself, with its narrow walkways and kitschy atmosphere, which gave it charm. It was only just around midday but the market was heaving.

There was a reason I wanted to come to Camden, however, and it was not just to see all the same tat and oddities I remember from the Queen Vic Market at home transposed to brick backyards by the Lock. For years I have imagined visiting one particular shop located here—the Moomin shop, tucked away in one of the quieter laneways where the cobblestone was clean and the crowd had yet to spread. I was surprised it was so quiet, when in my mind this had been the market’s prime destination. The Tove Jansson-themed store boasted Moomin everything—Moomin toys, Moomin crockery, Moomin chocolate, Moomin clothes, of course Moomin books. If I lived in London and could visit this shop every week, I think my home would quickly become overrun with Moomins. As it was I settled for a Moomin plate and matching spoon and fork, and a beautiful hardcover copy of Jansson’s Moominland Midwinter, to remember this dark and cold time of year I bought it in by. 

For lunch the market offered an international array of street dishes, its food courts steadily becoming the busiest spots as the day wore on and people began to get hungry. I already knew where I meant to go—I made a carefully pre-researched selection of falafels, served with hummus and salad and pickles and tahini and shared with Mum. The falafels themselves were crispy with a moist and flavoursome chickpea middle, as good as any I have tried elsewhere. For only nine pound fifty in total, it was good value for money.

In the early afternoon we walked from Camden Market along the canal, past barges and repurposed industrial sites, all the way to King’s Cross, a very bleak but beautiful area that seemed to me a kind of fantasy steampunk setting so detached from the rest of the city. A school of design and great towers of apartments and offices have taken root amongst the skeletons of the desolate workman’s world which used to exist there; it was peaceful but contrived. It was around now we managed to catch a few proper glimpses of the sun since it was a clear day. Already halfway to the horizon, it coloured the autumn-leaf trees.

From King’s Cross we took the Victoria Line back to Oxford Circus, where we were flung headfirst into another form of vivacious tourist shopping. Oxford St, as well as the halls of Liberty and Selfridges, was suffocating in Christmas. The wooden archways of Liberty’s highest level were covered in string lights which illuminated the decoration collection, while Selfridges offered a more unique take with its tree made up of bright green designer clothes. In the Selfridges foodhall we purchased a small wedge of black truffle cheddar and a box of crisp sourdough crackers and added them to our spoils of the day.

Homewards-bound we waited in the cold by Marble Arch for a while longer than perhaps necessary for a bus home, but we had the front two seats on the second level of the double-decker, so it was worth it. As we drove along Hyde Park, in the heart of which we spotted the gleaming big top and thrill rides of the Christmas fairground, became a dark wall silhouetted on our right side, and the streets were in shadow by the time we made it to Notting Hill Gate. We ate ready-made pastas in the evening and went to bed quietly—maybe the strain of travel was catching up a little, I didn’t have many words except for the ones I had energy to write. But I was happy that I had finally been able to visit the Moomin shop. It had been on my mind for a long time.

[alice-makes-things]

It’s important to note that yesterday I went to one moomin shop in London and today I went to the other one because I have a hyper fixation sir

Guys I have a problem

[dragonlord-emrys]

I don’t even drink tea but I really want this moominhouse tea pot it’s so cute 😭😭😭