Laboratooriumi

I find myself in Laboratooriumi. It is so quiet. There is nothing modern here at all. Grass grows in cracks under wooden doors. The old colour-washed walls are grimy and woe-begone. I am totally alone and feel in a time-warp. Is this the fifteenth century I'm stood in?

Towering above the end of the street is the spire of St Olav's Church. At just over 400ft it is the tallest of the city's spires. In the 1500s it was the tallest building in the world at that time.

Loewenschade Torn

I follow the walls past Loewenschade Torn and then pass under them into a courtyard that leads to a street called Aida.

Suur Kloostri

I rest briefly in a quiet park, Tornideväljak before returning back towards the walls along Suur Kloostri.

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.

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.