The ugliest building in Toompea is the Russian cathedral. Well, you
can admire the idea without liking the way the Russians realised it.
Among the other buildings which we rather preferred were the Post Office
I had not realised that the sun was so strong we would be unable to
read the notice over the door. One of the words that surprised me
was Filatelia, which is nothing to do with the Russian word for Post
Office. Perhaps Estonian has Graeco-Finnish roots?.
Another rather decent house turned out to be the German
ambassador´s residence.
That this house should be so magnificent seems appropriate in view of
the town's long links with the various German trading cities. On
the whole, and when the cruise ships are not in the port, Toompea seems
a quiet and sleepy place, with cobbled side streets in which tourists
can easily get lost.
Given the right vantage point, you can look over the lower town:
This view is taken from the ramparts, not from one of the towers like
Kiek in de Kok
K in de K is the further of these two towers. One of the
disadvantages of visiting Tallinn in high summer is that trees get in
the way of photography! I could not find a better angle for this
shot, except by climbing the town hall tower (which has iron bars in
the window arches, to prevent your intrepid photographer from a
dangerous fall)..
And from this angle, you cannot see how completely the tower dominates
the lower town. It is clearer from this view of the square at the
bottom of Pikk Lag .