Tallinn, 2004

Toompea

The ugliest building in Toompea is the Russian cathedral. Well, you can admire the idea without liking the way the Russians realised it.
Russian Cathedral - Alexander Nevsky
Among the other buildings which we rather preferred were the Post Office
Toompea 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.
Toompea - German ambassadors 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.

Toompea backwater
Given the right vantage point, you can look over the lower town:
Toompea rooftop panorama
This view is taken from the ramparts, not from one of the towers like Kiek in de Kok
Toompea - Virgin tower and K in de K
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)..
K in de K from the townhall tower
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 .
View down to lower town

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