Category: Contest

A reader writes:

Another:

I think the view is from Reykjavik, Iceland, though it could be from some village in Norway. Definitely Scandinavian architecture.

Another:

Oulu, Finland.  Thought process: 1) Far north, 2) Body of water in town, 3) Possible volcano nearby (no idea if I actually hit on this one), 4) Right-hand drive country (not that tough, since most are)

Another:

I’m going to say Isafjordur, Iceland. If it is, I know only because I worked on a cruise ship last summer that stopped there and I went on a great hike on the mountain in the background. If it’s not, the resemblance is pretty uncanny.

Another:

My guess is that the photo was taken in Tromso, in northern Sweden.

“Late at night” – suggests a town located above the Arctic Circle. Architecture is northern European, but generally too high-quality to be in the (former) Soviet Union. Tromso is also approximately the right size (~70,000 population) to be compatible with the urban scene in the photo. An enjoyable context for my day of rest. Thanks for the challenge.

Our pleasure. But “Tromso, Sweden” is just a tad off. Answer after the jump:

My girlfriend and I puzzled this out. The fjord landscape in the background rules out Sweden and Finland, leaving Norway. The buildings in the foreground are quite large, and suggest the center of a large town. We looked at Google Maps and Youtube videos of Oslo, Trondheim, Bergen and Tromso, of these, we thought Tromso was the most likely. We believe the picture was taken overlooking the Nerstranda Senter, possibly taken from an upper floor of the “City Living Hotel”, on the corner of Strandskillet and Gronnegata.

A handful of readers also got as specific as the street intersection. But the winner has to go to the reader with the multimedia entry:

The late-night sun was an easy tip off to look towards the Arctic Circle. The architectural mix of 19th Century neoclassical and 20th Century modern helped me zero in on Scandinavia, while the mountainous topography tilted the likelihood toward Norway over Sweden. A glance for mid-sized, Norwegian cities that far north with Google Maps finally made Tromsø a very strong contender, and a panoramic, waterfront view on the city’s German Wikipedia page confirmed it — I was even able to mark the approximate location of the photographer (Strandskillet & Grønnegata) and the angle of view on the enclosed photo:

Readers are getting too good at these.  We’ll have to crank up the difficulty a bit.

Also, a special thanks to this reader, who reveals the reason why so many readers might have guessed correctly this week:

Just a note – the exif data in the current VFYW image says “East of Tromso”, which, if the pic is from Tromso, Norway, is a pretty big giveaway. You might want to strip all exif/iptc data from your VFYW images in the future. This can be done in most image editing programs (Photoshop, etc).

This photo was taken late at night. You have until noon on Tuesday to guess it. Country first, then city and/or state. If no one guesses the exact location, proximity counts.  Be sure to email entries to VFYWcontest@theatlantic.com. Winner gets a free The View From Your Window book. Have at it.

A reader writes:

Somewhere tropical, reasonably developed. Not continental US. Can’t find somewhere in Hawaii with this much flat land. Phuket, Thailand?

Another writes:

Looking at the chair, it has a certain elegant South Asian feel to it. But the water has that beautiful tropical glow and the surroundings look fairly prosperous. Thus, I’m going to guess: Victoria, Seychelles.

Another:

Judging by the trees, landscape, ocean color, and river through town, I’m going to wildly guess Hoi An, Vietnam.

Another:

I’m going to guess that’s the Rock of Gibraltar out in the water, so let’s try La Linea De La Concepcion in Spain.

Another:

This one’s tough. Inactive, eroded volcanoes in background point toward somewhere in the South China Sea.  I’m taking a stab in the dark: Malaysia, the city of Georgetown.

Another:

Based on foliage, the style and condition of the buildings, and the odd looking vegetation, combined with the terrain, I’ll say Australia. Google image search, combined with combing through Australian coastal towns, leads me to believe this must be Townsville, Queensland.

Another:

This game is fun, especially for those of us who enjoy maps. Trying to match the Google satellite images of my guesses to the little clues offered here is one way I’ve attempted to answer. So, this is probably Christchurch, and more specifically, taken from the Phillipstown section of the city, looking east. Now, go ahead and tell me that I’m half a world off the mark.

Half a world. Answer after the jump:

If this isn’t my hometown, I’ll be embarrassed to misidentify it, but this looks like Honolulu, Hawaii. Specifically, the neighborhood of Kailua, overlooking the Enchanted Lakes section. If I’m right, it was the silhouette of the Mokapu peninsula in the distance that tipped me off.

About 40 out of 500 entries were Kailua. But the VFYW book has to go to the reader who divined the exact street address:

That is obviously the view from Kailua looking towards Kaneohe on Oahu, so I figure the location guess has to be pretty specific. Mahalo to the fellow with the skylights to the right for an easy landmark to look for in Google Earth for the street.

Congrats to the winner. A few readers have more on Kailua:

The water in the foreground is Enchanted Lake. The water in the background is Kailua Bay. The mountains on the left are the Ko’olau. The mountain in the far right actually looks like a sea turtle up close. The crunchy brown seed pods off the lanai are called “haole koa.” The picture was taken on a foggy day, but it’s usually much clearer there because of the trade winds.

Another:

The area is home to the Marine base at Kaneohe Bay (K-Bay, as it’s known on the base). My brother-in-law was stationed there for three years, deployed to Iraq from there, and met my beautiful sister, an island girl, in Kailua Town.

Another:

Would be great if you posted a link to last week’s winner with this week’s entry, will save your readers a lot of digging through the Dish to find it. Thanks!

You’re welcome. See you Saturday at noon.

This photo was taken in late November. You have until noon on Tuesday to guess it. Country first, then city and/or state. If no one guesses the exact location, proximity counts.  Be sure to email entries to VFYWcontest@theatlantic.com, not the regular Dish account. Winner gets a free The View From Your Window book. Have at it.

A reader writes:

So those pretty unique mountain formations immediately make one think of Southern China or Vietnam. But seeing as I’m getting to this particular contest 24 hours late and many guesses that fall within China and Vietnam have probably already been submitted, I think my best bet of winning this book is to cross my fingers and hope this was taken somewhere else in the region. It’s clearly an urban space, blue bus public transportation and all. I’m going to take a wild stab in the dark and say Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Another writes:

I believe this one is from Rio de Janeiro. Or, perhaps to be more precise, Niteroi, Brazil (which lies across the bay from Rio). I believe I can see the famous statue of Christ the Redeemer in one of the mountains.

Another:

I first saw AC units like that in China, so I’m thinking it’s there, and likely in the southern part of the country. A bit of a stab in the dark, but Suzhou? (Looking forward to laughing in a couple of days when I find out I guessed the wrong continent.)

Right continent. Another:

The hills in the background of the photo remind me of the ones in coastal southwestern Turkey (but they also remind me of China, so who knows).  I’m going to guess Fethiye, Turkey for the heck of it – also because the white building on the right also reminds me of Turkish construction.

Another:

This is clearly China.  The mountains in the background are a dead giveaway. I am amused at myself for recognizing this based on Art History classes in Chinese landscape painting from many, many years ago.  Beyond that I need to guess; I pick Huangshan.

Warm. Another:

I’m probably the hundredth person to guess this, but Vietnam, Halong Bay?  (Beautiful place, but the tourist scene is out of control and really detracts from the experience. Still, it’s a must if you’re ever in Vietnam. It really is one of the wonders of the world.)

About 20 people did guess Halong Bay, but no dice. Another:

I think this may be Guilin, China. I went there on holiday with my family when I was 14 (am now 21). A guy in our group had been there in the ’70s and remembered local people holding their children up to the window of the restaurant he was eating in. They’d never seen a white man before. If it’s not Guilin, then this little story is fairly pointless. Still, beats looking out of my own window in Abingdon, UK. Industrial estates leave much to be desired.

Guilin is getting warmer. Another:

This is most likely spectacularly wrong, but the only place I’ve ever seen the shape of mountains like those is Jackson Hole, WY.  So that’s my guess:  Jackson Hole, WY.

Spectacularly wrong. This reader nails it down:

Is it Yangshuo, China?  If it is, it took only one guess (China) and one Google image search (chinese mountains) to get it right.  Thank Google!

About 50 readers also got Yangshuo (a third of the 600 entries correctly guessed Guilin, but Yangshuo is the more specific political division). The first reader to do so was D.I., who wrote:

Yangshuo in Guilin Province, China, on the Li River. Just a guess based on the karst mountains.

Another reader explains:

Rain water and ground water are slightly acidic and will dissolve carbonate rocks. In Missouri, we get caves. In China, it results in spectacular pinnacles.

Congrats to D.I.!  Next contest goes up Saturday at noon.

This photo was taken in early November. You have till noon Tuesday to guess it. Country first, then city and/or state. If no one guesses the exact location, proximity counts. Email entries to VFYWcontest@theatlantic.com (the regular Dish account was getting overwhelmed). Winner gets a free The View From Your Window book. Have at it. 

Some flesh on the bones of our decision not to change the VFYW daily posts. One writes:

Please do not post the “where and when” for non-contest photos after the jump. I love VFYW and the contest, but once a week is good enough. It remains fresh this way. I enjoy the daily views, but part of the enjoyment of reading your blog is the ability to skim through quickly and grab what information I desire. But I’ll quickly grow disinterested in VFYW if you make me read the jump every time.

Another writes:

I prefer it the old way. The drop-down option would be a great alternative.

Another:

Please go back to the old way.  I think we all can use our vertical scroll bars to prevent us from seeing the location.  I really, really don’t want to click again on the blog more than I have to, especially since The Atlantic has added those motion-filled ads in the upper right.  Those have really slowed down the loading of the blog for me.

Another:

VFYW is one of my favorite parts to your blog and I just take simple joy in looking at the picture and noting the location. While I wouldn’t want to deny anybody from “playing the game,” I know I probably won’t click through (as your site for some reason is slow going in my office), so my experience of VFYW diminishes somewhat by burying the location.

Another:

Click throughs = annoying

We’ll keep pushing for the drop-down option.

A reader writes:

Not sure about this, but I think this is Honolulu, Hawaii – either toward the Moilili/University side where it’s sparser, or toward the Ala Moana Park side … sort of where Waikiki peters out?  Clouds are right, it’s the right place for the setting of the winter sun, and the buildings are all relatively early postwar.

Another writes:

I’m an architect, and the view from this particular window looks just like my stay several years ago in a Singapore Public Housing Estate. Judging by the location of the setting sun, I’d say Choa Chu Kang district.

Another:

I know it’s at the beach, and since I’m hoping January is a hint, I’m going to say somewhere warmer and where people flock for the summer. I have a 50/50 shot of getting sunrise or sunset right, so I’m going with sunrise, because the sky seems too orange to me. I guess my guess will be Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Another:

Looks to me like Tehran, Iran – north side of Elahiyeh facing south.

Another:

I’m gonna take a leap of faith and assume your reader is more likely to catch the sunset than the sunrise, so that means we’re looking at a western-facing beach.  Obviously tropical or subtropical, as indicated by the palm trees.  Architecture and surroundings are all pretty tidy-looking, ruling out most developing-country beach cities, which tend to have a fair share of grit.  Beach looks pretty straight and wide-open, meaning it’s not in a bay.  Shall we say Naples, Florida?

Another:

Looks like Communist architecture. Sofia, Bulgaria?

Another:

This one is too hard. If it is the evening, it could be Toronto, facing South to Lake Ontario. They have a lot of those Soviet-looking residential buildings, but the waterfront doesn’t look right.  It could be Odessa, Ukraine. What the hell, Toronto.  No, Odessa.  Odessa is my guess.

Another:

High rise concrete block apartments, looks like Communist architecture, so somewhere in the former Warsaw Pact or Soviet Union.  I’m going to go out on a limb and say Tallinn, Estonia.

Another:

St. Petersburg, FL?

Another:

The construction looks cheap and dated, but there is a beach. Manilla, Philippines?

Another:

Decidedly North American, but I’m guessing not US. The bland color of the lake behind the buildings seems oddly Canadian to me. I’m guessing Toronto.

Another:

Buildings look South American, and for some reason that feels like a sunset over the ocean.  Let’s go Valparaiso, Chile.

Another:

That definitely looks European to me, and not Western.  I see water, so that should narrow it down a bit.  I’m torn between Croatia (perhaps Split?) and something a little more mainstream, such as Athens.  Final Answer: Athens.

Another:

Spain, Canary Islands, Tenerife, Santa Cruz de Tenerife?

Another:

This is hilarious. Back in the pre-contest days, I would flippantly zero my eyes in on the new image, avoid the caption and pretty instantly come up with a winning guess. I figured I was at least partially right 70-80% of the time. Let’s say I graded on a curve and felt pretty smug about my VFYW-dar.

Now for the humiliating part. I initially had no impulse about this city. Too many clouds for the Persian Gulf. Not the usual US architecture. Vaguely east-Asian? Sunrise or sunset? Should be an easy guess if you’ve been there. I studied it some more. The main body of water (what looks like the ocean), the inland channel or river to the left, the low-slung apartment architecture, the clouds … WTF: Miami Beach, FL.

Close:

Fort Lauderdale, Florida, 7.15 am, on January 12, 2010.

Seventeen of the nearly 600 entries guessed correctly, but the first to do so came from reader E.G., who wrote:

As a frequent visitor to the east coast of Florida, I would have to guess the view of aging mid-rise condos looking out to the sea was in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. I am also inclined to believe this is Ft. Lauderdale since you probably have a large number of gay readers from that area.

It was a tough one, we know. We love this contest. Every Saturday?

Sent by a reader back in January. You have till noon Tuesday to guess it. Country first, then city and/or state. If we have a tie, the time will count. And remember to put "VFYW Contest" in the content line of the email. Winner gets a free The View From Your Window book. Have at it. 

First a word from the winner, P.L.:

This is the proudest moment of my life!  I’d like to thank my aunt (N.L), who lives in Santa Fe, and took me road trips in Northern New Mexico as a child. I’d also like to thank Amtrak. And of course the Daily Dish for such a fun game.

Another reader writes:

Yes! Let’s play this weekly. I would prefer it to be on a Tues, Wed or Thur. Monday is always busy trying to see what blew up over the weekend and Friday is filled with thoughts of the weekend and wrapping up projects. Midweek can be boring and a distraction is needed.

Another:

Ok, so I was a gajillion miles off with Durban, South Africa, but please, yes, let’s do this weekly.

Another:

YES YES and more YES. I especially loved reading the Sherlock Holmesian renditions of how people got to their often-wrong answers. And what a nice diversion from Oil Spills, Flotilla Massacres and our fave fan, Sarah.

Another:

I say no. 

I’m always surprised – pleasantly – by the effect the VFYW photographs have on me. The simple, typically non-stunning photographs make me pause and consider how big the world is, how small the world is, and not necessarily where I fit in but that I do fit in. I like that, and don’t want that experience diluted by thinking about contests, clues, and analysis.

Another:

I missed the guessing window for your first “contest.” But, having just returned from the Four Corners area a few weeks ago, the dry shrubby vista put me immediately in mind of northern New Mexico. Good one. Could you be so kind as to ask the photographer if s/he has any good shots of the awesome local Muffler Man, wearing blue scrubs and a stethoscope, atop some random retail building on Farmington’s main drag?  I lost my vacation pix and it breaks my heart to have lost that one.

This photo from Farmington is by Deanna Nichols. Her Flickr caption:

Apparently this was not originally Paul Bunyan, but a Muffler Man. While the arm position was originally developed for Paul Bunyan holding the axe–subsequent fiberglass “Big Men” were holding mufflers and other objects. The arm position was the same because the company just used the same mold.

See more of Deanna’s work here. Another writes:

I see now why I lost. Though my guess of Durango, CO was about 125 miles closer to the mark than was the winner’s, the rules state:  “Country first, then extra points for city and/or state.”

In the spirit of Armando Galarrago, I’ll accept my loss gracefully. However, I’d like to suggest that you amend the rules so that the reader whose guess is the closest in distance wins.  Borders are somewhat arbitrary, particularly with respect to this game.  There are no visual clues about borders; we must glean the location from the flora, fauna, architecture, etc. illustrated in the photo.  Each of these characteristics tends to be shared among people who live near one another, without regard to the state or country in which they live.

Another answers this legitimate concern for us:

Yes to the contest, if you guys can handle going through all hundreds of the answers!

Another:

This is excellent fun. I vote for daily. Get an intern to do it.

If we had an intern, we would (but we may get some desperately-needed help very soon). My dictatorial compromise: we’ll post the contest on Saturday and run the results on Tuesday.