Up Viru

I continue up Viru which is thronged with people. Girls in national costume hand out leaflets about a local restaurant. The Town Hall square is a mass of stalls.

I continue up towards the Town Walls and a place called Pikk Jalg which means the long leg street. Here is an archway under the walls and the steep climb to Toompea Castle.

I decide not to continue upwards but turn right into Nunne. Suddenly I'm away from all the noise and in a quiet street that leads below the walls. Looking up I can see people looking down from the Kohtu viewing platform.

Sauna

Turning off the busy Viru, I find almost deserted, narrow alleyways such as Sauna. The name of the street probably means small farm though it could mean bath-house.

Cycle taxi

Viru, the main street, is a strange mixture of ancient and modern. Opposite the mediaeval walls is McDonalds. On the outside the restaurant is not as garishly in-your-face as most branches of the chain. Across the road is a row of cycle-taxis, seemingly driven mostly by students.

Mural at the corner of Aia and Viru

Later I take the shuttle back into Tallinn on my own. Viru gate is now even busier than earlier. At the corner of Aia and Viru is an interesting mural. The upper part seems to be a map, whilst the bottom part is in two halves, one a scroll of writing whose significance is lost on me and the other looks as if it could be an advert for an ice-cream parlour.

I venture into a jewelers shop, looking for a suitable gift for Christine, it being our wedding anniversary in a weeks time. I look at some amber necklaces and ask the price in euros. I translate the price into pounds. Thereafter the assistant quotes me prices in sterling. Having settled on a suitable purchase I decide to pay using my credit card. This seems to be the best option since the card is debited in Estonian kroon and my bank does the conversion into sterling later.

Viru Gate

The Old Town looks intriguing, but lies uphill and the streets are cobbled. We've been out for about an hour and Christine is ready for returning to the ship.

Shuttle bus

We are pleased to be told that one of the shuttle buses has a ramp and so Christine can get her wheelchair on to it.

After a bit of a wait for the bus to fill up, it takes us on the ten minute journey into the city, dropping us off near the Hotel Viru.