Category: Contest

Thanks for your patience with our technical difficulties (damn that dreaded pinwheel of death). A reader writes:

Vast stretches of asphalt, parking lots and ludicrously wide streets, combined with lackluster, lifeless "greenspaces"? I didn't need to see the flag to know that this is the United States. Everything looks very institutionalized, so I'm going to guess somewhere in the vicinity of D.C.

Another writes:

Probably wrong or, if right, not specific enough, but my guess is Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The photo is obviously in the US, given the flag. But I'm not sure what color the state flag on that pole is. At first I thought it was green, making it Washington State, though the photo does not look like a Western city (the trees are too Eastern-looking, East in this case meaning East of the Rockies). I google-street-viewed Cheney, Walla Walla, Yakima, and Wenatchee, WA, which are all east of the Cascades, as they can sometimes look like towns farther east in certain moments. Yakima looked close, but ultimately I couldn't find a match. I looked at a listing of state flags and noticed that South Dakota's has a bit of green to it (maybe if the light caught it right). Sioux Falls looks like a decent-sized city there, and so that's my guess, as I've hit the time limit I gave myself for spending time on this contest.

Another:

When I saw the flat, empty horizon with trees that were just starting to bud, my mind immediately went to Buffalo, New York. I found this image of Niagra Square, which includes an eerily similar park, a courthouse, a red brick building, a modern art sculpture, and a parking lot:

The only problem is that none of them are the same ones as in your picture. So I submit this as an example of how similar many of the small to medium sized cities in North America appear.

Another:

At first glance, looks like Dallas Texas USA, Dealy Plaza, Texas School Book Depository on the right side. The building sure looks familiar.

Another nails the correct city:

Long time viewer, first time mailer. So when I looked at the picture, I thought to myself, "Gosh, that building behind the circle looks an awful lot like the Consumers Energy building, in Jackson, Michigan."

Not that I've ever been to downtown Jackson, but I work in a building that also used to house an architecture firm, and they had pictures of it on the wall. (For instance, see this page.) To Google Maps!  Scroll west. Engaging satellite view. Yep, there's the building, and everything seems to match the picture.  So my guess is One Jackson Square, Jackson, MI, and although I'm not obsessive enough to try to pinpoint the exact window, I'll guess Allegiance Hospice on the fourth floor. You seem to get a reasonably large number of views from hospital rooms, so why not.

Another:

Since I'm a painter and student of art history it came in handy for this one, I immediately recognized the site specific sculpture as a Louise Nevelson. The sculpture is titled "Summer Night Tree" cor-ten steel 1978. and is installed at the intersection of East Michigan Avenue and North and South Francis Streets. in the town of Jackson, Michigan. The building with the columns and circular pathways is the Consumers Energy Legal Library with the Lefere Forge (tall Stack) in the distance. I believe the photo was taken from a window on the 9th floor center of the Citizens Bank building looking east. This one was fun and I appreciate the art reference.

Another sends an image of the sculpture:

Another reader nails the correct floor:

Not only was it a huge kick to instantly recognize a VFYW contest site, but it gladdened my heart to see Jackson featured. I worked in the Jackson area for 20 years and became very fond of its warm, hard-working, educated, charitable, and fun-loving citizens.

The window is probably on the 8th floor of the Citizens Bank tower at 100 E Michigan Ave, Jackson, Michigan USA. The view is from the northerly end of the east side of the bank building, looking southeast across the intersection of Francis St and Michigan Ave. The tall building straight ahead is the CMS Energy corporate tower, which was built so as to preserve a fine old existing post office lobby. The brown building at left houses county social services and conceals the vintage Amtrak depot just beyond, which was one of the stops recited over the loudspeaker in the railway station chase scene in Hitchcock's North by Northwest.

One thing that might make Jackson topical in an election year is its fair claim to be the birthplace of the Republican Party. Another is that it is an example of the kind of community that was arguably saved from unnecessary economic havoc by the auto industry bailout, since it has numerous auto-parts plants and machine shops around it. Its manufacturing employment rebound was recently reported in Bloomberg Businessweek, but, entrepreneurs take note, skilled technical workers are still abundantly available there. At this writing, who knows if Mitt Romney will pass through Jackson Tuesday in connection with his campaign visit to nearby Lansing, Michigan.

Though I doubt I'll be alone in locating this week's VFYW, or that I'll hit the exact window, I hope I do well. And good on The Dish for giving unsung Jaxon some props!

Five other readers also correctly guessed the 8th floor, but only two of them have gotten a difficult view in the past without winning, so we have to award two prizes this week.  One winner writes:

The things one can learn and discover from Teh Google! I attached a Google Maps pic with high-tech graphics illustrating my genius with this week's VFYW:

If I get the exact window correct, which is far from assured, this would be my third correct guess (with no wins yet). Once I was one of three to guess the correct hotel window in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Another time, I was one of hundreds to guess the correct Warsaw, Poland view. This time, I again expect to be one among the hundreds. Oh well. I had fun. Keep 'em coming.

Actually only a few dozen readers correctly guessed Jackson. The other winner:

This was an easier VFYW after a few brutal ones – thanks! A Google image search for the Calder-like sculpture in the foreground eventually turned up Jackson's public collection. Then with Bing, it was fairly easy to find the building from which the VFYW came. I'll guess it's the 8th floor of the One Jackson Square building, from the window circled in the attached photo clip:

From the submitter:

When I took the photo, I wondered if it would be the awesome mix of distinct and non-descript that makes your VFYW contest so pleasantly infuriating. The window is on the 8th floor of the One Jackson Square building, at 100 E. Michigan Ave. This was shot from the circled window here (sorry for the low-res GIS) and is looking east:

The prominent building is the CMS Energy headquarters. It was built in 2001-2003, but the low building in front is the beautiful 1932 Post Office building, which was connected and redeveloped into the headquarters tower.

I was at this location following a meeting, and wandered up to the 8th floor to see the spot my new cubicle will be when my team moves someday. Classic corporate; we were going to move in January, then June, and now September. I wanted to see my future view. It will be pretty decent for this run downtown, but I was sad to see that our historic 1872 Amtrak station is hidden behind the ugly brown government building on the left.

(Archive)

Technical difficulties erased large parts of the draft post. The results will be posted at 2 pm. Stay tuned.

You have until noon on Tuesday to guess it. City and/or state first, then country. Please put the location in the subject heading, along with any description within the email. If no one guesses the exact location, proximity counts.  Be sure to email entries to VFYWcontest@gmail.com. Winner gets a free The View From Your Window book. Have at it.

A reader writes:

Not a whole lot of clues to go off of for this view. I did notice the absence of pickup trucks, which eliminates anywhere in North America. The drab grey buildings make me think of either Russia or China and the lack of leaves on the trees leads me to a more northern latitude, ruling out a good portion of China. So I did some map searches through various hilly areas of Russia looking for industrial/mining-type land uses with drab buildings – there are a lot of possibilities. I’m going to go with Novokuznetsk, Russia, although I was unable to locate the exact building/view.

Another writes:

Is it Tampere, Finland? Pretty much just a wild guess …

Another:

I looked at this one for quite some time, but I could find nothing to work with this time.  But it seems to look like the front range in Colorado to me.  I’ll guess Golden for no reason except it was the first place that came to mind.

From one of the contest’s most loyal followers, who lives up in Alaska:

Been doing some travel and took a vacation from the View contest (I have a few decent Views from Costa Rica that I’ll share when I get my photos downloaded).  Was hoping this week’s would be instantly identifiable so I could come back with a close guess, but it is not to be.  Still, I will take a crack because a couple of weeks ago I think only 25 folks entered.  I would hate to see this contest wither for lack of entries … This feels more like Europe than North America, but it still seems likely to be part of the more developed world based on the extent of roadside signs and markings, landscaping, and pollution control regulations that seem likely with those smokestacks.  But the distant city buildings seem like uninspired office towers and I can’t make out any old buildings that one might expect from a European city.  Maybe we’re in someplace that is newly industializing, or the old town is out of view.  In any case, the vegetation screams Oregon or Washington if we were in NA, but might fit with someplace like the Hungary if Europe.  I’ll go with the latter – picking a random city in topography that seems about right, even though I know I’m wrong because there aren’t enough red roofs …

Another starts on the right track:

This looks like either the iron mining areas along the French/Belgian border, but the downtown area off the right of the photo looks more American to me.  The north-central portion of the state of Alabama has the same terrain that appears in this photo. I would say Tuscaloosa, AL, but that downtown looks a little bigger.  So I’m going with Birmingham. The lack of trucks and SUVs does worry me, though … distinctly un-American!

Another nails the right location – the only reader to do so:

It’s amazing how much one can learn by looking closely at a random photo.

The slag heaps, called terrils in Belgium, indicate old coal mines.  The cars were definitely European, as was the blue no-parking sign. There are a lot of coal mines in Europe, but the license plates on the cars were special, the old-but-still-in-use Belgian plates that are shorter than the Euro norm (new cars get the longer, 7-digit ones).

There are a few tall buildings in the distance.  This narrows down the choice to either Charleroi or Liège, but after looking at some landscapes, I say Liège, looking over the Meuse river valley.  The one thing missing from the view is church spires, but it appears that the liègois like their churches down-to-earth.  It’s not the most beautiful city I’ve ever seen, but it has some great cooking, and an awesome new train station, designed by Calatrava.

The view is from the CHR Citadelle, the hospital built on the site of the old fortress protecting the city. I can’t find a floor plan, but here is my guess as to the window, on the 3rd floor of the northeast wing:

Hospitals in Belgium, and health-care in general here are very good. I’ve been in Brussels 11 years and have no complaints. I hope the photographer is feeling better.

An impressive win for what might be our most difficult contest yet (only a few dozen readers even tried to guess the view). From the photographer:

This was the view from my mother’s hospital room window in Liege, Belgium at 10:22 AM on Saturday, April 7th, 2012. I visited her from the US on that day. Her room was on the third floor. My mother was discharged to a nursing home in the same town about a week later.

I believe that the towers in front are the hospital incinerators. The hills on the left are old coal mines’ “Terrils“, which are the leftover residue of the coal that was dug out from the ground (I suppose Andrew would know this sort of sight from England). These ones lay very near Herstal, the birth place of Charlemagne. Further somewhere in the horizon line must lie Aachen, which was Charlemagne’s palace.

This week, for our 100th contest, we want to take a moment to spotlight the reader who has clearly dominated the game thus far, correctly answering more views than any other reader, often in great detail. (He secured his VFYW book prize with his Dakar, Sengal entry but has correctly guessed dozens more.)  We asked if our Grand Champion would like to reveal his identity and share some thoughts on the contest. Mike Palmer writes:

Wow! This is really cool!  But I definitely have to share the honor with my teammate Yoko, a nurse living in Osaka, Japan. I live in Laguna Niguel, California, and I’m an engineer (an electrical engineer, to be even more specific; I design integrated circuits).

Hmmm… Thoughts on the contest… Here are some quick thoughts, and some insight into how we find the windows:

I can echo what some of your other commenters and winners have said: it’s been really amazing to find out how similar so many places in the world are, and how different as well. No matter where the window is, it’s amazing how often we are able to pick out the location quickly based on a few small details.

The first window I found was in San Diego, and it only took a few minutes. That was the exception, but after that I was hooked. Most windows, even when we know the general location, take hours of searching, with every tool at our disposal. I often have Google Earth running on my tablet PC, and Google maps, Bing maps, Flickr and Panoramio open on the PC. We start with general clues, and start searching for things that looks similar, expanding our search if we don’t seem to be on the right track. When we think we’re close, we start looking through travel sites in addition to everything else, to see if we can find similar views from hotel windows.

Even after the building is found, triangulating to the right window can be nearly as time consuming as finding the right place. Being halfway around the world, my teammate and I have only a little overlap. I see the window first, and usually send her an email in the afternoon, California time, letting her know what I’ve found. She is amazingly good at searching – especially through images – and there will often be an email waiting for me on Sunday morning, with the place and a photo with a possible window circled. Triangulating, documenting the window, and sending the email falls to me.

The view changes every week, but the thing never changes is the rush that comes with finding the window. That part never gets old.

We will send Yoko a prize right away.

You have until noon on Tuesday to guess it. City and/or state first, then country. Please put the location in the subject heading, along with any description within the email. If no one guesses the exact location, proximity counts.  Be sure to email entries to VFYWcontest@gmail.com. Winner gets a free The View From Your Window book. Have at it.

A reader writes:

State College, Pennsylvania? I could be wildly off. The roads around the tennis court look a bit like campus, but I graduated from there (Penn State) almost two years back, well before all the ugliness. The hills in the background also remind me of Happy Valley.

Another writes:

The articulated bus should be a key clue.  Los Angeles uses articulated buses with similar livery.

Another:

It looks like California by the weather, hills and vegetation. I focused on the bus. I guess southern California, since I don't recognize the bus and I live in Northern California.  I started with LA, but unfortunately I never got closer than that.  After looking at golf courses around LA for half an hour, I will simply guess Burbank.

Another:

I was torn between Del Mar and La Jolla. But I'm going with La Jolla. No particular reason. Just looks like that area. My brother lives down there and attends UCSD. With all of the Mitt and dressage talk this week, it just seemed like a fit. Come summer time, I will be down in that area frequently, betting on the ponies at Del Mar.

Another:

What?! After two years of never having a clue where a VFYW was, here is one I have driven by countless times.  

It's the corner of Santa Monica Blvd and Little SMB, looking north from Century City.  Every time an Angeleno hits this intersection, they have to decide which street will have worse traffic going home and you can see the cars in the picture making the choice to switch north and follow the bus onto Big Santa Monica.  This is just west of the Beverly Hilton Hotel, and from left to right we have The Los Angeles Country Club, the spire of the Rodeo School, and then the west wing of the hotel, with Beverly Hills in the near background, and the Hollywood Hills looming over it all.

An aerial view:

Another:

I was shocked to see a familiar place after countless contests of not having a clue of where any of the VFYW photos where taken. Like any good Angeleno I drive everywhere, and an intersection that I have gone through countless times is seared into my memory, just as countless other boulevards, side streets, freeways and possible driving routes take up a majority of my brain capacity. SNL just made fun of this fact in a recent episode with a hilarious and accurate portrayal.

Another:

I like the optical illusion.  These tennis courts are actually several stories above ground.

As this visual entry shows:

Another reader:

Google Earth lags behind construction; those tennis courts are recent. The golf course is the Los Angeles Country Club. According to legend, Randolph Scott applied for membership and was denied, "Because you're an actor." He replied, "Have you seen any of my pictures?" and was accepted. The little stub of a sorta kinda Moorish dome in the middle is the tower at El Rodeo elementary school. I walked there from the 6th to the 8th grade, along these streets.  Century City, which is off to the photographer's left, got its name because it was the back lot of Twentieth Century Fox, and the studio had to sell the land to pay for the disaster that was Cleopatra. Currently, Beverly Hills and Los Angeles are fighting over Beverly Hills' refusal to let the subway go through this zone.

A particularly proactive reader:

I took a little field trip to gather the VFYW photo exact location. Where Santa Monica splits into East and West (little) Santa Monica is bisected by Moreno Drive. The red double length bus is the 704 that travels east on Santa Monica Blvd from the coast through downtown. The actual view, according to the very nice security guard, is from one of the offices of The Agency Group, Suite 711 at 1880 Century Park East. I was not able to confirm the exact window because their offices were closed.

(By the way, as a piece of local color, 100 yards away is a Banksy that has managed not to have been painted over.)

Another:

I thought I recognized the building with the blue and white facade at the right edge of the photo; not sure what's in there now but used to be a record company's offices.  Just outside the right edge of the photo is a mechanic's garage where I have gotten my car serviced; it's a third-generation family business and they have photos of many movie stars of the past whose cars they've taken care of. This is Los Angeles, after all.

A non-native writes:

I Googled the images of public transit vehicles starting from the largest city (NYC) and since LA is the second largest, I quickly settled on LACMTA's bus service – specifically, the Rapid routes, since these are the only ones that use the red and silver color scheme. The list of Metro Rapid routes on the LACMTA website established that these routes run along major city streets. I decided to literally follow each route on Google Maps, and I hit pay dirt very soon – literally the first route on the list runs along Santa Monica Blvd, and following Santa Monica Blvd on a map gave me this intersection.

Another visual entry:

Another:

I'm sure many people will correctly guess the location of the window on 1880 Century Park East, so I'll provide some local color. Century City is a very Los Angeles story, because it combines show business, a real estate play, and transportation. Originally part of the backlot for 20th Century Fox, Century City was developed when Fox ran into cash problems in the early sixties. Its development and zoning were contingent on the Beverly Hills Freeway, and a planned subway line, neither of which came to fruition. In fact, the Los Angeles Metro transit board is set to finally approve a subway extension that will stop at Century City, over the objections of the local Beverly Hills high school, which also features a working oil well.

The parking lot in the right of the picture is adjacent to the Beverly Hilton Hotel, perennial home of the Golden Globes, site of the John Edwards Enquirer stakeout, and more recently, Whitney Houston's tragic death. The golf course is the Los Angeles Country Club, where Howard Hughes attempted to make an emergency landing in his XF-11, but instead crashed into the adjacent homes. The red bus in the middle of the photograph is the Rapid 704, en route to downtown. I can't prove it, but I may be on it!

Another sent the above image from his iPhone. Another:

I'm sure you will get tons of Angelenos responding, and all I can say to boost my chances is that I do NOT live in LA (I'm a New Yorker) and so this scene was about as familiar as one of your European streetscapes – a hunchworthy project for a Saturday afternoon.

We did get tons of entries – about 150, almost all of them answering LA, and most of them from locals. A handful of readers guessed the correct floor, but only one of them has gotten a view in the past without yet winning a book. That reader writes:

Based on the distinctive hills (Beverly Hills), and the red and grey bus, we immediately recognized this as Los Angeles, where my wife is from and where we first met (I lived there for 7 years too). We know LA well so it was easy to pin down the exact building as: 1880 Century Park East, Los Angeles CA 90067

Those tennis courts are on the roof of another building. The tower in the middle of the picture is the El Rodeo School bell tower. As for the exact floor, that is tricky as always but after playing around with google earth and streetview and so on for a while, our best guess is that the picture was taken facing north from the 12th floor, fourth window from the left. We've attached an image of the window we are guessing.

Also, if it's worth any extra points, *my* window in Los Angeles was the very first you ever published. We would love to win one of these books!

No extra points needed. By the way, here's the original email from the photo's submitter:

Today has been a depressing day. I realized I have been looking out on this same view for 14 years!  So I thought I would submit the view for either the contest or just a posting.  Maybe someone will be a cheered by it.  And maybe it’s time I start looking for something different to look at. Specifics of Window view:

1880 Century Park East, 12^th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90067
11:32 on 4/17/12

A follow up:

OMG, I just sat down at my desk, bummed that I'm here on the weekend, and what do I see??  My view!  You made my day – no, my week.  Thank you.  I cannot wait to see the responses.

(Archive)

You have until noon on Tuesday to guess it. City and/or state first, then country. Please put the location in the subject heading, along with any description within the email. If no one guesses the exact location, proximity counts.  Be sure to email entries to VFYWcontest@gmail.com. Winner gets a free The View From Your Window book. Have at it.

A reader writes:

Was that picture taken in Alexandria, VA, just southwest of Old Town from the booming Carlyle/Eisenhower Avenue neighborhood? If I had to guess, I'd say the picture was taken through a window from within the US Patent and Trade Office (or one of the many nearby condo complexes), given the apparent height of the shot. It looks like I can see the George Washington Masonic Temple in the background.

Another writes:

The storefronts and style of buildings, the quality of the lighting, the hills in stretching up in the background, and the minaret (I think?) remind me of central Amman, Jordan. No idea whereabouts. The buildings stretching up and down the hills make Amman particularly beautiful at night.

Another also guesses Amman:

If it is, you're likely to have 500 guesses – and the location is likely easy, but I'm sure by now someone has gotten it right.

The number of entries was actually closer to 25 – the lowest ever, making this contest one of the most difficult yet. Another reader:

Paris! My mom live is one those high rises, the few built within the city limits in the '70s. It's next to Jaures metro in the 19th.

Another:

Valencia, Spain? Sometimes you just have to guess.  It looks European and southern, since the trees have full foliage. The church steeple could be Spanish.  But really, I'm just guessing.

Good guess – correct country. Another nails the right city:

Bilbao, Spain! I recognize that cathedral and adjacent apartment blocks. My wife and I were there last April, to celebrate our anniversary. We met quite near where I think this picture was taken – I remember there being quite a few foreigners around, as well, for a city with tons of local flavor. I also remember babies, being held aloft to poop in forsaken plots of land, as we traversed the lolling city blocks in search of a ferret shop. We had heard that Bilbao was good for ferret shopping, but actually we never found one! Anyway, if that isn't Bilbao, poo poo.

Another sends an aerial image:

Another reader:

For me the key clue was the little red painted ad on the wall, which looked like a Dia supermarket. Other parts of the image said Spain, and then I realized the building center right was the city's bullring.  And since not that many Spanish cities have big buildings, I knew it was a bigger city.  So I stated image searching for particular bullrings, and this one looks like Bilbao's.  It has what appear to be crests or coats of arms on the white panels.

Another:

I recognized this instantaneously. Even though I only wandered past the bullring once while visiting Bilbao, it was just obvious right away. And I was also only there for a night – odd. But there was something distinctive about Bilbao, and all of Basque country in general. An awesome place.

Another:

Well, I've been living abroad for more than 16 years now and I must confess that it took me a while to recognize my hometown, Bilbao, the biggest city in the Basque Country, Spain. Here we're just overlooking Vista Alegre Arena, the city's bullring, which was built in 1882 and where Ernest Hemingway found some inspiration. I am not much of an aficionado (bullfighting fan) myself. For me, being there once was more than enough. Precisely identifying the street and number is going to be more difficult, though, because there have been a lot of new developments in that area recently. I'll go for the Santiago Brouard Street, near the Amézola Square.

Correct street. The winner was the only reader to guess the exact window:

This is looking out on to the Plaza de Toros de Vista Alegre from the building on the corner of Calle de Santiago Brouard and Calle Dolores Ibárruri in Bilbao, Spain. The building in the immediate foreground is circular, and screams, "arena".  And it appears open-air and small.  I couldn't get bullfighting ring out of my head despite having no experience or interest in it beyond reading Hemingway.  This thought persisted despite it not matching anything that came up on Google images.  Wikipedia came to the rescue with a list of "Bullrings of the world". Luckily I only had to go to the fifth one on the list.  It is actively used for bullfighting, and in the summer of 2010, 54 bulls were killed in Bilbao.

Details from the submitter:

The very top left window, the 6th European floor or the 7th American floor (they consider the ground floor 0, not 1).

Last semester I was studying abroad in Bilbao, Spain, living in a homestay with a pretty odd 44-year-old single guy. He had a nice place, listened to good music, and fed me well, but was really closed minded and hated the internet for some reason.  He was also really into organic food and every week his brother would come by and deliver us fresh vegetables from their dad's garden, so that was nice, me being a nutrition major and all.

I was basically there to learn Spanish quick-like and to have an adventure. I studied at the University of Deusto, which is pretty big on international exchanges, and it was used to helping international students like me with whatever I had trouble with (lots of things, because I didn't speak Spanish very well when I arrived.) I had some early classes, hence the picture of the sun rising over the bull ring there, but overall enjoyed Bilbao despite its smelliness (it's a pretty industrial place even though the government is trying to make it greener, it used to be a huge commercial port, but where the docks used to be is now the Guggenheim and a park).

One more entry:

I am a proud winner of the contest about a year ago (Cullera, Spain), so I am not really trying to get my entry into the contest this time.

Still, I could not refrain from writing to you, since the picture is from the city where I was born and raised. It took me about two seconds to think "Spain" and then about twenty more seconds to realise it was actually Bilbao. It is funny how every time you include an image from urban Spain, either for the contest or the daily VFYW section, it has some difficult to describe air of familiarity. The same happens to me with Italy (the picture the other day from Rome was also crying out "Italy" before I read the caption). I guess people from other countries have the same kind of impressions when they see their cities.

What we see in the picture is sunrise at the Plaza Ametzola, with the Vista Alegre Bullring to the right and the white towers at Plaza Zabalburu in the back. My guess is that it was taken from the sixth or seventh floor of the building at the corner of the streets of  Santiago Brouard  and Dolores Ibarruri (Kalea is Basque for "calle", i.e. street, as you may have imagined).

Bullfighting is quite popular in Bilbao, with corridas being part of the programme of the Semana Grande (or Aste Nagusia, in Basque), the week-long fiesta that takes place every year at the end of August. There are also many people who dislike them, of course, not only for humanitarian reasons, but also for their association with Spain, and particularly Andalusia and Southern Spain, with all its associated stereotypes of backwardness, conservatism, poverty, dependence on welfare.

For the time being the enemies of bullfighting have not been very vocal in the Basque Country, but in Catalonia, as you may know, bullfighting has been recently outlawed, with a lot of controversy in other parts of Spain. The new conservative government in Madrid has actually made some noise in the direction of fixing this with some kind of regulation from the central government, giving bullfighting some kind of "cultural good" protection. This would certainly create a row in Catalonia, so I hope Rajoy is clever to let things stay the way they are now. We have enough problems. 

Ok. Enough. Thank you for posting the picture from Bilbao. It was fun.

P.S. I hope you do not mind that I made a click on the Facebook "I like it" button, so I may have prompted some not regular readers (some of them from Bilbao) to see the picture. Maybe some of them decide to participate, which I am not quite sure that fits the purpose of the contest. But I hope they won't.

(Archive)

You have until noon on Tuesday to guess it. City and/or state first, then country. Please put the location in the subject heading, along with any description within the email. If no one guesses the exact location, proximity counts.  Be sure to email entries to VFYWcontest@gmail.com. Winner gets a free The View From Your Window book. Have at it.

by Chris Bodenner

A reader writes:

Could this be Gibraltar’s airport? My husband and I went there in 2001. It was a “roots” trip: my paternal grandparents were born in Gibraltar and we hoped to get more info. The clerk at the government office that handles birth records suggested that we see if someone at a nearby church could help us, which turned out to be excellent advice. The church archivist went through book after book of records, constructing a family tree that went back seven generations. It was thrilling! We left Gibraltar on 9/8/01 and drove to Seville, a gorgeous city. And three days later, we turned on CNN in our hotel room and watched the Twin Towers collapse. We flew to Madrid and were so distracted that a pickpocket was able to remove my wallet on the elevator trip to our room in the Westin Hotel. Whether or not this photo is Gibraltar, you brought back memories of the most emotional vacation we ever had.

Another writes:

I’m a longtime Dish reader, but never played this game. That’s got to be somewhere on Andrews Air Force base in Suitland, Maryland.  I think that 747 parked on the runway there is Air Force 1, no?

Yes. Another:

Airport, river, bridge, mountains, Air Force Friggin’ One. So many clues and yet I could not positively identify the VFYW. This week’s contest was maddening.  I’m going with Burlington. I searched google maps for hours, looking at Tulsa, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Dayton, and Burlington. I though Burlington was the closest, but I still think I’m wrong. But hey, I guessed Puerta Vallarta and I got that right.

Another:

This is my first time entering VFYW but I think I got it.  Seeing Air Force One and using the White House schedule, I narrowed the possibilities to Burlington, VT or Portland, ME.  Since Portland doesn’t appear to have mountains in the background of the airport, I will guess this is the Burlington Air National Guard Base.  The attached map (couldn’t figure out how to drop it in!) shows the closest view I could get since street view isn’t allowed on a military base.  So here’s to guessing!

Another:

I believe this is Air Force One having landed at the military air base side of Galeao international airport in Rio de Janeiro, most likely during President Obama’s visit in March 2011.

Another:

Ramstein Air Force Base, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany. The buildings look identical to those at Ramstein, and only at an Air Force Base would you see the airfield so close to such buildings.  My guess is that this picture was taken from the Tower and that it was taken during the President’s trip there in 2009.

Another:

This could be Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany. Why? I used to live in SW Germany. The hills look a lot like it. Air Force One on the runway without lots of guarding vehicles. Green painted trucks on the parking lot on left center picture. So it should be a secured US Air Base. The buildings in the front look like standard issue Army barracks. Ramstein is located in high hill country in SW Germany (see background) with seasonal moderate climate tree vegetation. Looks like fall or winter colors on the trees on the hills. Spring comes late to the German high country.

Another nails it:

I have been teaching English in South Korea for the past two years, and was waiting for a Korean VFYW!

Like every picture taken outside of Seoul, there are mountains in the background.  The trees have yet to blossom due to our drawn-out winter.  President Obama was just in town.  Osan Air base. Pyeongtaek, Songtan-dong, South Korea. Final answer.

An aerial view from a reader:

Another writes:

Being raised an Air Force brat the monochromatic buildings immediately made me think air force base.  Air Force one, winter-bared trees, hills, and river locate near runway made me think of Osan, though I was only there once on a stop over returning from Thailand during the Vietnam war.

Another:

I wonder how many military readers your blog has but count me among them. The view is from one of the residential towers on Osan Airbase looking out over the Turumi Lodge transient quarters toward the runway, probably from the 8th or 9th floor, as the apartment block is up on a hill. I’ve spent many nights in the Turumi while deployed to the Air Operations Center supporting various Seventh Air Force exercises, and many lost evenings in Songtan just outside the gate. Could probably pinpoint the exact date that Air Force One was there but I’m busy on shift at Kandahar AB right now.

Another:

Because the White House helpfully lists the places the President has visited, including airports, it wasn’t too hard to determine that the photo was taken at the Osan Air Base in South Korea. And I’m pretty sure the photo was taken from one of three high-rise apartment buildings:  Seoraksan Tower, Hallsan Tower, or Jirisan Tower.  I attached a screenshot shows the building from which the photo was taken, with the arrow pointing toward the apron where Air Force One was parked.  But I couldn’t figure out the building’s name or address.  My guess is that the photo was taken from an apartment on the 7th floor of the west (or south-west) wing of the building.

Another sent the above image, of the Hallsan Tower. Another gets the right building:

Apparently information about U.S. military bases – including buildings, street names and the like – are hard to find online, especially when the base is located near a hostile country.  That makes sense, I guess, but it cost me a couple extra hours to finally figure this out.  Using the Google Maps view of Osan Air Base, I identified the buildings in the foreground (the gazebo helped), and the area where Air Force One was parked.  I then needed to find a high-rise building that was positioned just right to make that shot possible. The Osan Air Base website mentions three military housing towers, Hallasan, Seoraksan and Jirisan.  I couldn’t find anything on Seoraksan, so I moved on.  After spending way too much time locating the other two towers, I decided against Hallasan, as the angle didn’t work.  So I’m going with the Jirisan Tower. I believe the photo was taken in the western-most wing of Jirisan Tower.  I’m going with the 10th floor (the top), though it could be the 8th or 9th floor too.

Another:

This was simple to track down with Air Force One sitting on the ramp, as president Obama attended the Seoul nuclear summit late last month. The photo was taken from the balcony of the Jirisan Tower Family Housing at Osan Air Base, Korea. Here’s a video of the ribbon cutting ceremony, provided by Armed Forces Network (AFN).

I spent many years in Europe working with the military. Few Americans realize the extent of the infrastructure provided to American service members and their families. Housing, restaurants, movie theaters, hospitals, shopping centers, and athletic facilities abound. You really don’t have to leave the base to keep yourself entertained.

Another creates an impressive animated GIF, a VFYW first. Another reader:

I’ll probably lose to someone who has lived in the building and knows the numbering system.  But no matter.  My hat’s off to the photographer and other service members and their families serving in South Korea and around the world, never knowing when a nut job like North Korea will shatter the peace, but standing ready on our behalf, just in case.

It was especially difficult this week to break the tie, but the prize goes to the reader who has gotten several difficult views in the past without quite winning:

I suspect this is going to be another battle for the exact window; Air Force One is a mighty big clue! So … this looks like a military base rather than a commercial airport. A scan of the President’s schedule on the White House website shows that, sure enough, he was at Osan Air Base near Seoul during his recent trip to South Korea. A Google Earth satellite image reveals a lot of rust-colored roofs like the ones in the photo. I used the bridge in the background to orient myself and soon found the general location on the base from which the photo was taken. After a bit more snooping, I was able to find the foreground building with the courtyard. The courtyard building has three chimneys or vents on top that line up with more distant points that I was able to identify on the Google satellite image. When I drew these sight lines, they converged at what appears to be a base housing tower. This turns out to be the recently-built Jirisan Tower. I believe the photo was taken from the tenth floor, north-facing balcony in the west arm of the tower.

I’ve now correctly guessed or gotten close to (off by one floor last week!) several of these windows. Maybe this will be my week!

Tis. One more entry for posterity:

As soon as I saw the mountains, I thought Korea. I lived there for many years. The American buildings gave pause, until I recognized Air Force One and remembered Obama’s recent summit in Seoul. A retired Air Force colonel in my graduate program confirmed that this is Osan Base in Pyeongtaek. No time to locate the exact building, so I’m probably out of the the running. Still, I’ve wanted to submit the attached photo for a long time and here’s the chance. In the ’70s many Korean miners and nurses emigrated to West Germany. Many are choosing to retire in their homeland, and this is the “German Village” they are building on Namhae Island (Namhae-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea).

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