We start with a look back from the Olaviste to Toompea
This gives a good idea of how much higher Tommpea is than the town. It also gives an idea of how high the tower of St Olave's is. 258 steps, and some of them a good 30 centimetres high. The tower was at one time the highest in Europe. It still looks big.
This photo also gives an idea of how strong the sun can be. I
took it at 2pm local time, after we had climbed the tower, so now
Noël Coward could say that Mad dogs and Englishmen go up in the
midday sun. Here is the proof:
And this is the view seawards
At ground level, there are some memorable houses: The Blackhead
Boys´ house, for example (the children in traditional costume
were attending some part of the Baltica 2004 festivities)..
As well as some more anonymous houses
This is Pikk Street, the longest street in the city (at least, in
the old city). With true Estonian poetry, the guide explained
that Pikk Street meant Long Lane. Its houses have some shady
courtyards:
Virumale means Estonian in Estonian, and the country is young enough for people still to be proud of the fact.
Here is the clock on the wall of the Church of the Holy Spirit. This church contains a carved wooden alterpiece a little smaller than Veit Stoss´s masterpiece in Cracow, and some memorial to the Royal Navy. The altar was cordoned off, and we couldn´t get close enough to read what the memorial said. Nor have we been able to Google it out yet. Holy Spirit would have been a page on its own if we had been allowed to use the camera, but no dice!
Pikk Street is also home to the the Dragon House gallery.
I took a close up of the Dragon detail:
And here is another colourful house
Finally, here are a couple of other street scenes, firstly in Lai Street - a former theatre, now transformed into a restaurant.