Category: View From Your Window

A reader writes:

The architecture, including the tile roofs and the overall design of the buildings and balconies, in addition to the palms, narrow streets, upscale shops, street name on the side of the building and the square tower all suggest a resort town in southern Spain. The glass windows indicate that at least part of the time it is fairly cold there too. Reminds me of Sitges.

Another writes:

Whenever I see perceptions (and it’s possible that those pink flowers aren’t even bouganvilla). But that, and the balconies, look like the old “french quarter” of Panama City: Casco Antiguo (also known as Casco Viejo). Of course, even if I got that right, one of your other readers will know the exact address and have eaten at the little cafe.

Another:

Was meeting with my tax preparer and reading the Dish on the sly. I saw the picture load on my iPhone and my heart leapt with joy: “Singapore!” yelled I, with an expletive that brought frowns to all the clients and accountants within earshot. Embarrassed, I waited for a few hours to check the picture again. Once before in the early days of the contect, I had guessed Singapore (only to have the location be West Palm Beach), so I didn’t want to make the same mistake twice!

It’s either Malacca or Penang, up on the West coast of Malaysia. Both are great places to visit and soak up a few centuries of culture and atmosphere, and to buy cool and useless trinkets to take home. Its a tough call, but Malacca is my guess.

Another:

It sure makes me think of a weekend we spent in the Portuguese city of Malacca, Malaysia.  Waking up to the muezzin’s morning adhan is one of those time-and-place memories I cherish.

Another:

This one is deceptively hard, so I’m making a wild, educated guess.

Tropical, affluent, with old architecture.  If only I could read that sign!  At first I was convinced it was New Orleans.  I even tried to crowdsource the exact location by posting the picture on the Facebook walls of my New Orleanian friends.  No luck. One suggested  Spain, and that the balcony style was a giveaway.  After googling Spanish balconies with no luck, I decided to guess Spanish influence in a tropical seting – San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Another:

I came somewhat close to #41 when I wrongly guessed Vung Tau. At the risk of being that guy who went to a place one time and now thinks everywhere looks like it, I think this is Hoi An, Vietnam. Specifically, somewhere in the Ancient Town close to the river. The crumbling yellow buildings, the balustrades, the tourists down below and the French writing on the signs … the only thing that doesn’t quite fit my memory is the white high-rise in the distance.

Some friends and I bought old Soviet motorcycles in Saigon last year and spent five weeks riding them up the country to Hanoi, Top Gear style. It was an absolute blast and Hoi An was easily the most beautiful town in Vietnam.

Another reader who guessed Hoi An uses a photo of Le Loi Street to bolster her case:

Another:

New Orleans, for sure.  I’ve never actually been there, but it looks like how I’ve always imagined Bourbon Street to be.  Plus my French girlfriend assures me the blurry sign in the foreground is in French.  So, her knowledge and my hope lead me to New Orleans.

Another:

Ok, so this is pretty much a wild guess. After zooming in close to the sign, I think I can just barely make out “Il Dante”. I googled “Il Dante” and all that came up was “Restaurants in Colombo.” So, that’s all I have to say about that: Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Another:

Geez! These last two windows were extremely hard. Last week’s Montana view was seemingly only for people who visited Missoula, and this week’s seems to be just as difficult. I threw every Photoshop trick I know to try to clarify the sign above the doorway, but I can’t quite get it. Based on the verdana style houses, the bouganvilla, leafy plants, apparently warm weather and the paint on the buildings, I hazard that it could be either somewhere in Manila OR Central America. My hats off to anyone who gets this without actually having visited the country.

Another:

Well, a google search for “El Bistro” quickly pulled up the photographed restaurant in Cartagena, Colombia, so I bet you’ll have tons of correct answers this week.  I expect the prize will go to someone who has a cool story about the place – not me, since I’ve never been there!

Twenty-five other readers correctly guessed Cartagena. One writes:

No googling, just pure “that’s what it looks like”.  Was there in the early 2000s when I lived in London and my GF (and future wife) lived in Lima.  We had to arrange crazy weekends in Miami (the halfway point). One time we met in Lima and visited Colombia.

Another:

I was fortunate enough to spend several months in Cartagena. I couldn’t read the sign, but it looked like the first word was “el” and the second word began with “B,” so I googled “Cartagena el b” and let the algorithm fill in the rest. Bingo.

Another reader found a close-up of the elusive sign:

Another:

The Spanish colonial architecture, vivid paint colors and blooming bougainvillea jumped out at me and I immediately thought of Cartagena (even though I’ve never been!).  Some searching in Flickr and Google Images confirmed it; I found that highrise building in the background in Cartagena’s Financial District.  GoogleMaps, alas, does not provide a street view of the historic Old Town (El Centro), just links to photos taken there.  Since it’s a pedestrian precinct, I guess Google couldn’t send their camera-cars in!

Another:

I can’t believe it, I know where this is! I’ve been to Cartagena recently, so as soon as I saw the architecture I thought it looked amazingly similar. With a little image enhancement and my knowledge of Spanish, I realized the sign says “el Bistro”.  Just a Google search later and I found it. This means the picture was taken from the north side of the street, the second floor of the Hotel Agua, Calle de Ayos, 4-29. On Google Maps it’s on Calle 35, between cross-streets K4 and K5. And since I’m not so Google Map savvy, I drew the location and field of view of the photo. I’m pretty sure that modern, tall building in the distance is the Centro Commercial, which I’ve circled:

Another:

Long time reader, first time submitter. The street names in Cartagena de Indias change nearly every block but according to Google Maps, the picture in question looks to have been taken just East of Carrera 4 along Calle 36. Consulting my trusty backpacker book, the street name is Calle de la Estrella. I’m guessing #4-45.

The country in question is the victim of many a bias, not least of which from citizens of the USA. It is often overlooked by travelers and almost always appears in the news only in the context of the negative stereotypes that have stuck with it for at least a quarter century. The fact is that Cartagena is but one of the many spectacularly beautiful cities in a country full of them. The amazingly friendly people, vibrant salsa music scene, plethora of exotic fruits, Pacific and Caribbean coasts, topography of every type and the most beautiful people in all of South America make Colombia a gem. I spent six months there last year and can’t recommend it enough to fellow travelers!

Another:

This is definitely my hometown of Cartagena.  It is one of the most beautiful and romantic cities I have ever been to.

Another:

I always make the VFYW contest a family-wide affair, roping in my mother, father, girlfriend, and any additional person who I have a hunch might be familiar with the region in question. In my two previously published guesses, however, I went it alone and came up a bit short (or in one case, 5000 miles short, guessing Ecuador over
Sicily). This time the family lifeline proved quite helpful.

My girlfriend, a native Venezuelan, immediately spotted the “look and feel” (her favorite English phrase) of neighboring Colombia. Obviously this view in particular has a strong tropical, Carribean feel to it, making Cartagena the likely frontrunner. Then she somehow managed to guess that the sign across the street read “El Bistro” (this is shocking to me since when we’re driving she often can’t read a street sign until it’s right above her). One google images search later and we’ve found the restaurant across the street from the view.

As for the other members of my family lifeline? My parents guessed New Orleans (mom) and Curacao (dad, because the architecture struck him as more Dutch than Spanish) – this despite the fact that they both visited Cartagena less than a week ago, and for all I know ate at El Bistro. The joys of VFYW….I’ll never let them live it down.

Another reader makes a wonderful collage:

Another:

My girlfriend and I were able to decipher this one from the sign in front of the restaurant: El Bistro. The hotel seems to be right across the street.  So: Centro, Calle de Ayos #4-29 Cartagena, Colombia. We have gotten several right without winning including Talinn, Galveston, Trieste, and Tromsø. So here is hoping that counts for something!

Many readers who guessed Cartagena have correctly guessed cities in previous contests, but only one this week correctly guessed one of our most difficult ones – Lausanne, Switzerland. The winner writes:

I had pretty much given up on entering this contest, though I still enjoy reading and following it each week.  Your readers are so well-traveled and other contestants so determined not only to identify the city, but the exact location, offering up their lovely remembrances of those places at the same time.  I am neither well-traveled nor that intent on tracking down the exact geo-coordinates for places.  Rather, I am somewhat well-read and have a life long interest in urban design and architecture.

Something serendipitous happened this week, however, and I offer my guess.  The travel section of my local Sunday paper featured a travel story with photos submitted by a reader. One of the photos looks remarkably similar to this week’s VFYW Contest.  I reviewed some Internet images to make me a little more sure and now offer my guess: Cartagena, Columbia.  I believe the photo was taken somewhere in the Old City District. Alas, since I have never been there, I have no personal story to share, so even if I’m correct, I will not likely win.

Never give up!

(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@theatlantic.com. Winner gets a free The View From Your Window book. Have at it.

A reader writes:

Let’s see … US-style handicapped parking and Do Not Enter signs, wind-whipped snowy mountains, superwide two-lane streets to accommodate heavy snowfall in what appears to be the densest local development, and faux-Austrian architecture.  This could be any small mountain town in the Rocky Mountain states, but I’ll have to go with Gunnison, Colorado, which sits in a valley surrounded by bare mountains.

Another writes:

Big sky with cirrus clouds and snow on the mesa look like the Mountain States.  Semi-arid; dormant deciduous trees look planted. The streets look wide enough to be a town square, so maybe it’s a county seat.  Overhead contrails, so maybe it’s under one of the main high-altitude jet ways, which often follow the interstates.  I’m guessing it’s a small city off I-25 or I-80 in Colorado, Utah, or Wyoming.  Just for fun, I’m going with 3 E. Flaming Gorge Way, Green River, Wyoming, because I think the hill in the background could be a disguised view of a landmark there called Castle Rock, and the yellow painted curbs look like the ones shown downtown in that city on Google Earth.

Another:

It could be any of a number small cities in the western US that abut barren, front-range mountains. If it’s a recent picture, then it’s some place where winter is abating but still present, which rules out the Southern states. The sidewalks, streets, lamps and signs all make it look somewhat prosperous. The building in the upper right could be an apartment building or a dorm, so I’m going with a college town. Provo, Utah?

Another:

Man, can this contest get any harder?

The only identifying feature for me is the hill in the background, which reminds me of going to school at Washington State University (go Cougs!).  The campus is in the eastern part of the state sometimes referred to as the Palouse, an area heavy with agriculture, small towns and incredible scenes of rolling hills that go on forever.

However, there are buildings in this picture that seem to indicate the town isn’t that small (that bland multi-story white building on the right is a bit of an oddity – a hospital? a prison? a dorm?).  And what’s with the green paint around the edges of the window we’re looking through?

So based on the ridiculously small number of clues here, I’m guessing a street scene in a small to mid-sized American city located somewhere near either Spokane or Boise.  Or maybe out to Montana.  What the hell, throw in Wyoming too.

Another:

The traffic signs are obviously American.  Somewhere fairly rural, dry and mountainous but not in the heart of the Rockies. There are some dome-like mountains near Bozeman, Montana, so I will go with that.  Let’s say 636 Main Street. (I consider myself a VFYW purist, so no protracted Google Earth search for me.  Ok, I’m just too lazy.)

Montana it is. Another:

This is definitely in the United States, probably the northern US, and judging by the geography I’d say it’s out West somewhere.  I’ll say Butte, Montana … am I close?

Yep. Another:

I am a native Montanan and recognized the distinctive hills of Missoula immediately. It looks like it’s finally spring there!

Another:

Missoula is a bright, welcoming town in Western Montana, home of the Universisty of Montana. Thanks for a picture of Big Sky Country!

Another:

Specifically, the view is looking ENE from the SW corner of Ryman St and West Front St.  It looks to be from the second building from the corner, from the second floor window. The field of view is indicated on the attached pic:

Another:

On a hot day last July, these streets were filled with young people in bathing suits, carrying inner tubes for a dip in the nearby Clark Fork River.

Another:

At this very moment, there is a rally going on at this location protesting the raids by the DEA on medical marijuana growers and clinics across Montana last week.

Another:

I remember from the two times I’ve been to Montana the treeless hills that surround some of the towns along I-90. They stand out in my memory because some of them have large letters on the slopes. A quick Google image search identified Mount Jumbo as the mountain in the background of the photo (it has a large “L” on the slopes). A Bing bird’s-eye search found the distinctive roofs of buildings nearby and pinpointed the intersection as that of Ryman Street and West Front Street:

Another:

I live in Minnesota, but for years I had a vacation home in Swan Valley, north of Seeley Lake, MT, about 80 miles in the direction this photo was taken. We often drove into Missoula, so I immediately recognized “Mt. Jumbo” in the background of the photo. This mountain is particularly famous in the Missoula area because of the “Big L” on its face. This is actually in your picture, but it’s hard to make out. I downloaded your photo, enlarged it quite a bit, improved the brightness, and bingo, there’s the “Big L”, clear as day (go here for a close-up). That “Big L” is for Loyola Sacred Heart High School, and stands as a landmark to the north of the other Big Letter, the “Big M”, for the University of Montana on Mount Sentinel (here‘s a pic).

Another:

The “L” stands for Loyola High School, although it occasionally morphs into other things.  For example, it became a heart when Missoula was trying to pass a bond authorization to acquire Mount Jumbo as public lands; the day after the bond was approved by the voters, it morphed into a big happy face.

Another:

I did a quick Google search of assorted possibilities for this window view (Yakima, WA, Moscow, ID, etc.) and found that when I googled “Downtown Missoula, MT”, a photo from Andrew Sullivan’s “The View from your Protest: Missoula, Montana” (Nov. 15, 2008) pops up:

Another:

Home sweet home.  I’m a Montana ex-patriot, now living in Charlottesville, VA, which is nice, but it’s no Missoula.  Check out the perfect horizontal lines on Mount Jumbo, which you can see thanks to the snow melt.  Those lines represent the shores of glacial Lake Missoula, when the entire valley was under water during the last ice age.  When the ice dam that held back the waters of Lake Missoula broke, it was one of the largest flooding events in the history of the planet.

Missoula is also, of course, home to the Montana Grizzlies, some of the best local microbreweries anywhere (Hey Kettlehouse!), some the best trout fishing anywhere in the country, and the nicest people you could ever hope to meet.

Another:

One of my favorite names for a beer adorns the nut brown ale made by Big Sky Brewing Company here: Moose Drool.

Another:

After months of being completely stumped by the VFYW offerings, I couldn’t believe  that I instantly recognized this spot. I went to grad school in Missoula, studying geology, and the first thing that jumped out were the ancient shorelines from Glacial Lake Missoula on Mount Jumbo standing out in relief with the snow.  The corner of the big white building with the red brick on the lower floor houses the Rhino, a popular bar where I spent (probably way too much) time.

Another:

That’s definitely Missoula, MT, where I lived for eight years. I recognized the Rhino bar on the left, where I once played a hole of mini golf with a plunger (it’s a long story and a quirky town).

Another:

I’m a Montana Griz alumnus and spent many a beery night on Front Street during the administration of Bush Sr.

Another:

I was at the Rhino, the bar at the corner of Ryman and Front St. pictured here, just this week. They have 50 great craft beers on tap. This photo was taken from above the Children’s Museum, where my wife volunteers, and the Grizzly Hackle fly fishing shop.

Another:

I’m not totally sure which building it is (215 W. Front or 223 W. Front), but a closer look at the image below doesn’t show any green paint on the window at 215 W. Front:

My family owned a coffee shop on the ground floor of the building(s) next door for a while.  First at 225 W. Front, then they moved to 211 W. Front.  A co-worker lived in an apartment on the south end of the building where there is a deck overlooking Caras Park, a carousel and  the Clark Fork River.  Nice vantage point for a beer.

Love it – more VFYW contests where I’ve actually been in the building!

Another:

As cliché as it is to make my claim, Missoula is the first place my future wife and I got ourselves an apartment – a $75 a month attic-like studio with a kitchen in a walk-in closet – across the river that is behind the building where this picture was taken. That was back in February 1985. We made it through the winter and headed north to Alaska in the spring, leaving the Lower 48 forever. But our fondness remains for western MT.

Missoula remains a fine college town, even as it seemed to be extruding box stores on its outskirts during my last visit a few years back. But the riverfront has gotten better over the years with nice greenways, a kayak wave, and trails emanating in all directions. And despite increasing yuppification, downtown retains some old western ambiance with a few shitkicker cafes and bars too. An easy place to miss.

It’s been a long drought since I correctly guessed a window view, but it always feels good when it happens – especially as a diversion from the world’s recent state of crisis.

Another:

I lived in Missoula in the ‘70s and early ‘80s when I was in high school (at the rather unfortunately named Hellgate High).  I’m pretty sure that one of your Missoula readers (quite possibly my friend Rob) will go out to the intersection and give you precise GPS co-ordinates of the exact window, so I hope that you’ll give me credit for doing this by memory from Phoenix!

Another:

I have been playing along since you started this contest.  When I get lucky, I get the correct continent.  This time I was immediately certain.  Not only do I know this city, it has been my home for the past 20 years (coincidentally, my first apartment in this town was upstairs from the Rhinoceros Bar on the other side of this same building, Howard’s Apartments).

I’ve attached a photo I took from the same location, and a photo  of the window from which the original was likely taken.  It could be any of the 2nd story windows in the brick building; they all have the tell-tale green paint from the original photo.  It’s most likely one of the two on the far right due to the rectangular window shape in the original photo (the others are square).  There are doors to 213 and 221 W. Front, as I indicated on my photo.  My best guess (based on angle and window shape) would be 221 W. Front Street  Missoula, MT 59802.  I sure hope I win this week, because I don’t usually have this kind of luck.

I love Missoula and I love your blog.  Best of luck at your new online home and keep up the great work.

There were many accurate and wonderfully detailed submissions this week, but the prize goes to the only one of those readers who correctly guessed a difficult view in the past but was barely denied a victory:

After the thrill of finding the exact window in Sydney and yet LOSING, we think we’ve done it again – right down to the window.

If that’s not Mt. Jumbo in the background in Missoula, MT, I’ll eat my hat!  It looks a little like an elephant lying on its side with head and trunk to the left.  The horizontal lines on the mountainside are quite distinctive as remnants of the shorelines of ancient Lake Missoula. Your photo is looking roughly northeast at the mountain, which is above Rattlesnake Canyon.

Missoula is my old home and stomping grounds.  The photo was taken from the second story, above the Grizzly Hackle Fly Shop at 215 W. Front St., probably from the 4th window from the left in the attached storefront photo. Next door is Trout River Coffee. Looking closely at the VFYW photo, it looks like dark green paint has been scraped from the window.

The one-story building on the NE corner of W. Front St. and S. Ryman St. is now Transformation Chiropractic.  That sure looks like it used to be a pizza place where we  hung out near the U. of Montana, but I’ve been gone too long to be certain.  Right next door on S. Ryman is the Rhinoceros brewpub.  I’ve attached a side view of the Rhino on a winter night.

The taller building on the right of the photo is the top of a 1941 Art Deco landmark; formerly the Florence Hotel, at 111 N. Higgins Ave., one street east of Ryman St.  Attached is an older photo showing where the elevator shaft (visible in the VFYW photo) extends up from roof level.

(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@theatlantic.com. Winner gets a free The View From Your Window book. Have at it.

A reader writes:

I’m still embarrassed about last week’s contest – I actually stayed at that resort in Mission Bay once, and my casita had a very similar view towards the bridge … but I didn’t remember it and went for Florida instead! This week, I’m also stumped.  The vegetation, the lined-up beach umbrellas, and the lines of the sailboats definitely look Mediterranean, and probably Greek.  So I’m guessing it’s one of the Greek islands, but beyond that …

Another writes:

This is total shot in the dark, as there’s so little I can grab hold of here (I’ve never been anywhere near the Caribbean, which is where I assume this is). The relative lack of palm trees in favour of scrubby vegetation seems to fit the North Shore of Jamaica as well as anywhere else I’ve looked at, so I’ve picked an arbitrary spot there on the basis that it might as well be: Salem?

Another:

I really have no clue, but it looks wonderful. After a week in which ice storms shut off our power – twice – and spring melts left a small river flowing through our basement, I don’t need to know where it is, just how to get there.

Another:

This view takes me back to one of my favorite travel memories: Cruz Bay, St. John, in the US Virgin Islands. Gorgeous beaches, crystal water, abundant wildlife, and an up-close and personal encounter with a Barracuda while snorkeling …

Another:

That picture reminds me uncannily of Taganga, Colombia. Specifically the beach across the bay from the main town.

Another:

The view seems to be from the north of town, looking down on the beach at Masachapa, a Pacific coast community west of Managua. It is a fishing village that attracts surfers and weekend visitors from the capitol, and the boats are identical to the ones shown. There is a small hotel adjacent to the beach, with a cafe where the building in the picture sits.

Another:

A wild guess, but something about the huts by the water made me think Bali. I haven’t been there myself – it just reminded me of the trailer for the Julia Roberts movie. Googling Bali a bit, I found some pictures of blue boats near huts like that. Also, in pictures of Dreamland beach there were rows of white umbrellas.

Another:

This is a hard one.

Everything’s too far away for any visual clues. But it does seem vaguely Southeast Asian, with the boats and the chairs along the beach, and something about the colour of the water and the foliage and the rocks reminds me of Vietnam. I’m going to say Vung Tau.

Another:

I looked at this image and thought, “Cambodia!” – but I have no clue why. I’ve never been there, don’t know anyone who has, and don’t recall seeing any photos of it in recent memory. But I plugged “Cambodia beaches” into Google and changed my mind after a couple minutes. I think it’s in the region of Cat Ba Island in Vietnam, especially after looking at a hilarious slideshow of the Ocean Beach Resort of Halong Bay, filled with touristy shots and the cheesy music. I’m sure I’m wrong, but my rule for this contest is 10 minutes or I’ll waste hours.

Another:

I’m not 100% sure, but those blue fishing boats are my best clue. Driving up the coast of Vietnam’s equivalent of California’s PCH, one of my most vivid memories of my trip to Vietnam was leaving the coastal city of Nha Trang and seeing the most amazing coastline I’ve ever seen. And all along the coastline were those boats, one of which I happened to drive.

Another:

Reminds me of the beach at Batu Fernggi (Foreigner’s Rock) in the state of Penang, Malaysia. There are several high-rise hotels near the beach that would be good for such a perspective, but looking through my photos I can’t find a pier quite like that one.

This week’s window was perhaps the most difficult one yet, and no one guessed the correct answer: Sattahip, Thailand. Only one reader even guessed Thailand. But the town he chose, Krabi, was just a little farther away from Sattahip than the following location:

Sihanoukvill, Cambodia, at the point between Hawaiian beach and Independence beach.  I am not certain, but this looks very familiar. I have a story but it isn’t very good.  I spent some time on Victory beach in 2005 and got incredibly sun burnt while making this amazing sand trailer home with a local boy/trinket seller:

Congrats on the tough win. We will get a book out to you shortly. See everyone else Saturday at noon!

(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@theatlantic.com. Winner gets a free The View From Your Window book. Have at it.

A reader writes:

Are you kidding? I don’t know how anyone could guess this location or deduce it from any observation of items in the photo, unless they know the spot already. I’ve been trying (and failing) to guess at these contests for months, but this one seems simply impossible.

Another writes:

I recognize that sky – it has to be Florida!  The chairs, the houses, the outgoing tide.  I’m going to guess at Jupiter, FL.  Maybe I’ll figure out the exact location if I look around.  I have a feeling it’s very close to where I live.

Another:

I don’t do so well with warmer climes.  The palms, seabirds, and waterfront real estate suggested Florida, but there wasn’t much else to go on.  Random guess: Boca Raton?

Another:

Damn you! Another 45 minutes spent satellite driving up the East Coast looking for this VFYW. I’m going gut instinct here: the highway pictured is the Overseas highway, rt 1, that goes down the spine of the Florida Keys. And because I really love Key West.

Another:

I worked down on the Gulf as part of the spill response in late summer and into the fall. This reminds me greatly of one of the bridges along the Mississippi coastline. I’m going with Ocean Springs, MS, looking west towards Biloxi on the north side of US 90.

Another:

I think the VFYW location for this week is Fulong Beach, Fulong Village, Gongliao Township, Taipei County, Taiwan, highlighting the Rainbow Bridge going over the Shuang River.  I think that the picture was taken from east of the bridge, at one of the little resort huts on the other side of the inlet.  I don’t have the superskills that some of your other readers have which allows them to get the location down to the Lat/Long, so that’s as specific as I can get.

Another:

Madison, Wisconsin? The palm trees were the big tipoff for me.

Heh. Another:

This one took less than two minutes.  The Adirondack chairs suggest it’s probably in the US.  The palm trees and waterways look like the Florida Intercoastal. Unfortunately, it appears that the land in the distant background is at elevation, not a characteristic associated with Florida or the Gulf Coast.  That leaves the lagunas of southern California.

Specifically, this is the northeasterly view from Hotel Paradise Point in San Diego.  The bridge in the background is Ingraham Street. The water is Mission Bay.

Yep! Another submits this view:

Another writes:

The view is very Mission Bay – the squat Dr. Seuss trees on the right, the terra cotta on the left, and those thick cement bridges. I think this is the Mission Bay drive crossing, the last bridge you go under before going out the channel to the bay, and while my google mapping tells me it should be a view from Paradise Point, I can’t find a house that looks right (most of them have low trees in the front yard). So I’m going to guess that it’s this guy’s house, and that he took the trees down at some point.

Another:

Because this photo was taken on a cloudy day, the possibly-snowcapped mountains in the distant background are not visible.

Another:

I know this view because we used to rent a condo on Mission Bay near El Carmel Street and the Yacht Club. The photo was taken from a “California Bayside Bungalow” at Paradise Point Resort & Spa. I’ve attached a photo of one of the rooms showing a similar patio with the white Adirondack chairs, arched overhang and stone facade:

 

Another:

Mission Bay is one of the world’s great water parks for boaters, skidoos, paddleboarders and swimmers.

Another:

There is a very nice bike and walking path that goes around the bay and you can access it from a lot of places including the stairs shown to the left of the bridge. We have a group that meets every Wednesday for a 14-mile ride around the bay and under that very bridge on that very bike path. We always end at a pub at the beach for a pint or two. We also kayak and do stand up paddling on the bay.

Another sends an e-postcard from the resort (which we can’t link to because it reveals his name). It reads:

I haven’t been there for 20 years, but I recognized that bridge in an instant, having rowed under it many times during warm-ups for the San Diego Crew Classic.

Another:

Maybe my homesickness for my home in southern California made this standout to me. It’s been a long cold first winter here in New Hampshire, so my mind drifts often to the warmer climate of my youth. This appears to be in the Mission Bay area, not far from Sea World. The architecture of the bridge and the very familiar cloud formations after a rain were also hints. Can I get a trip home?

Another:

I’m not from San Diego but was there once, when Make A Wish sent my daughter and the whole family to the San Diego Zoo nine years ago. Everyone’s fine still, and it was a wonderful trip full of behind-the-scenes tours of Zoo and the Wilds. I’m sure there are many clues the San Diego natives will pick up, but for me it was those chairs.   I will never forget those wonderful white chairs with those wide arm rests and that little white table between the two of them.

Another submits the above map. Another writes:

The reason that I so vividly remember this area it because the bridge in the photo was right around the 20-mile mark of my first marathon in 2005. The 20-mile mark is a tough point in any marathon, but for me it was even harder. I ran this marathon only six weeks after completing chemotherapy for lymphoma. I was training throughout my treatment while raising money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society through Team in Training. I finally complete the marathon in just over six hours, but my real finish line was still a month away as I had four weeks of radiation treatments remaining.

Another:

Yay! We finally got one! My girlfriend and I are at work today, and a few minutes ago she started screaming from the office, “Come here, come here!” I ran in and she was staring at the computer, smiling from ear to ear. We started following the VFYW Contest from the get go, and generally our guesses are continents away. But we both grew up around Mission Bay, and she used to kayak around that cove with her family, throwing bread to the ducks. Everyone should be so lucky to spend summers on that bay.

Though the winner will probably be someone who has a picture of the day he proposed to his wife in one of those white wood chairs, we thought that perhaps speed of response and a crudely drawn red arrow might count for something:

P.S.  I’m reminded to tell you that “Jon and Kate + Eight” stayed there once.

P.P.S  I’m also reminded to tell you that I have a big, bushy beard.

Another:

I recognize this view because just over 41 years ago, on January 23, 1970, my wife and I spent our honeymoon night there. I was in law school and she was attending college at the time and we could afford neither the time nor the money that a real honeymoon would have cost. While I was in law school, I also skippered a 45” Marlineer sport fishing boat owned by Ken Golden (of Ken Golden Construction) who at the time also owned this resort. It was called Vacation Village (since renamed Paradise Point), and I knew it pretty well since I had previously played in a rock band that entertained guests on the Bahia Belle, which cruised between Vacation Village, the Bahia Hotel and the Catamaran Hotel. As a wedding gift from Ken Golden, my wife and I received not one but two nights in one of his luxury suites in what could have been this exact spot.

Another:

This is my first entry into the VFYW contest, and what a happy one it is! I have attached a map with my best guess as to exactly which suite it is. I grew up in San Diego and have had countless family birthday parties, barbecues, and holiday celebrations in the grassy public use area to the south of the resort on Vacation Isle. I recognized the view because I spent a day on the bay this past summer when my uncle took me out to teach me how to fish. He’s an out-and-proud East County San Diego Tea Partier, and I’m an Obama-loving Anthropology grad student. We bonded over the ideal of self sufficiency that day; and now, in theory at least, I can feed myself.

Another:

Google had a link to this Flickr photo, along with the several other photos of the account holders vacation photos.  And since one of those photos showed their cottage number to be 454, that’s my guess.

Another:

I have Google Earth on my laptop, and now that I look there, here‘s a photo of the awnings on the bungalows facing the water, specifically unit 457. In the background, at the next bungalow, you can see what appears to be the two chairs in the photo you posted.

We had scores of readers who correctly guessed the Mission Bay resort, but only one nailed the exact cottage:

The VFYW is from room 451 at the Paradise Point Resort and Spa on Paradise Cove on Mission Bay in San Diego. The view faces ENE and shows the northern bridge of the two Ingraham Street bridges.

I’m a reader since the days of your blog’s blue background, so it was a thrill to recognize this location, but I usually see the bridge from the east while on Fiesta Island taking my golden retriever Buddy to the dog beach. Anyway, my partner and I went to the bay this morning to find the right spot:

(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@theatlantic.com. Winner gets a free The View From Your Window book. Have at it.

A reader writes:

Brest, France? Just a wild guess, since I can’t see any clues at all in this thing.

Another writes:

The bin, the railings, the green doors, the sky and the wet ground tell me that I know this place well. I think it could be in Dublin, Ireland, maybe outside the Convention Centre at Spencer Dock. Probably wrong, but I still think I’ll know the place well.

Another:

I am going to guess that this somewhere on the edges of Canary Wharf, London. The late-’80s corporate style matches, as does the waterfront location. However, these elements must exist in any number of other developments of that era – I have checked Vancouver, Seattle, and Dublin without apparent success. The main reason I am unhappy with my guess is the white colonnaded tower in the top right quarter of the photo – nowhere I’ve looked has that feature.

Another:

Ok, I haven’t got the slightest idea where this is. That would appear to be a river, not an ocean, so there’s no point in searching coastlines, I’ve got no real idea what the triangle things are on the left, there’s a phantom triangle that might be a mountain just above the blue temporary wall, and no one can read the plaque on the near railing. There’s a Roman-style cupola or steeple visible in the upper right if you use various Photoshop-like techniques, but that just means there’s a town hall somewhere nearby.

In short, the photo has a North American quality to it, the building looks like it was made between the 20s and the 40s or thereabouts, and beyond that, you just plain haven’t given us enough clues. Such is life. Ottawa is as good a guess as any.

Another:

Venice, Italy?  Specifically, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection on the Grand Canal. That’s the first thing I thought when I saw the photo. The fact that I thought of an answer so quickly suggests I’m probably way off.

Another:

I don’t know where it is, but it’s too fucking clean to be Venice.

Another:

Maybe because I was there just a few months ago, stayed at the Shangri-la Kowloon and could walk to the ferry, but I am convinced that it’s the Star Ferry Terminal in Hong Kong.

Another:

The view is of Speicherstadt, the old warehouse district in Hamburg, Germany.  This area is one of the largest, perhaps the largest, constructions sites in Europe with thousands of apartments and offices currently under construction.  A highlight of the district is the stunning Elbphilharmonie symphony hall (a photo might be nice to see on your blog).

July 2010 photo by Axel Heimken/AP. Another writes:

Long time lurker, first time poster. This reminds me of “Sleepless in Seattle”, specifically a place on the west side of Lake Union, right off Westlake Ave N.  My family moved up here to the Puget Sound region four years ago, after visiting from Texas and finding out how beautiful it is here. We stayed on a houseboat, used as a B&B. We don’t miss Texas too much – although up here, we have to wait a lot longer for spring to arrive.

Another:

Finally, a location I think I’ve been, but unlike other readers with other views, I can’t quite remember where. I have a very vague memory that the photo brought up – of going to a waterside restaurant in the greater Seattle area (or in Victoria) and being seated in an adjoining blue box structure like the one pictured. Also, the hanging flower planters (and gray skies) are totally Pacific NW.

Another:

Let’s see, we’ve got plants in bloom, so this location can’t have cold winters.  We’re on the water, but it doesn’t look like a marina.  What it does look like is a ferry terminal.  Finally, there appears to be a few buildings visible over the roof of the facing building in the pane on the right side.  One looks a lot like the top of the San Francisco Ferry Building along the Embarcadero. So I think this is the Embarcadero along the San Francisco waterfront.

Correct! Another submits a photo:

Another sends a daytime shot:

Another writes:

I think you’ll get a lot of correct responses for this one.  This is the first one for which I’ve had any clue.  It’s San Francisco, California, USA (where I live).  I’m guessing from an office suite in Pier 3 overlooking the patio of La Mar Cebicheria Peruana.  If you look carefully you can see the very tip of the ferry building in the far upper right hand of the photograph.  I also believe that’s Mount Diablo faintly visible above the blue patio awning.

Another:

That’s the Peruvian seafood restaurant La Mar. I lived in San Francisco until a few months ago and the picture reminds me of how much I miss the great food there.  La Mar is one of the city’s great waterfront restaurants where the quality of the cuisine is matched by the steepness in price.  I remember getting a ceviche and loving it, and my then-girlfriend having a tough time because she didn’t eat seafood!

Another does his research:

This is a picture of Pier 1.5 and La Mar Cebicheria Peruana, taken from Pier 3, on the Embarcadero. Here is a picture off Flickr. Here‘s a view from the water. Here‘s a view of Pier 1.5 and Pier 3 from above. Here‘s another view off the web in 2010, with the blue structure added by then. Here is a blog post with some good pics of the food and the interior of the restaurant, and another shot of the restaurant taken from Pier 3. The blue part of the structure seen in the contest pic wasn’t there until later – it was added to bridge to the patio seating. The blue extension matches the blue interior.

La Mar is one of my favorite restaurants in San Francisco – great Peruvian seafood! You can see a nearby view in this video, 37 seconds in (It’s an interview with La Mar’s chef, Gaston Acurio, perhaps Peru’s most famous chef. He has opened several La Mar Cebicherias across the Americas):

Another:

I have lunch at the benches at this building all the time! This complex is located within the historic district of the Embarcadero. The developer did a great job in reconnecting the street to the water’s edge.

Another:

This just looked so familiar at first glance. The building in the foreground is actually Pier 1 1/2 (Pier 2 being south of the ferry building) and the longer larger building in the background is Pier 1.

Another:

I work in the tourist industry in SF and know this view well. Pier 3 is often referred to as the Hornblower Pier as it is the launching point of Hornblower cruises.

Another:

About a million tourists must stroll by here every year.

Another:

This is the view from the easternmost of the two large, south-facing doors and windows in the building that houses both Bloomberg and Whiskies of the World. Having led two groups of friends and relatives along my walking tour (Death March) of San Francisco in the past month, this one was obvious to me. The view is toward La Mar Cebicheria Peruana’s back patio area with a white, wrought-iron handrail of a neighboring pier visible beyond. The flower baskets hanging from the lamppost and the metal railing were dead giveaways. I remember noticing the enclosed area with its distinctive blue fabric siding, the kind used to protect sails and other vulnerable parts of sailboats from sun damage and the elements.

I always enjoy leaving the bustling Embarcadero and walking along the boardwalk facing Treasure Island and Yerba Buena. Most of my guests are usually preoccupied with their cameras, and the Blue Bottle Coffee we just bought in the Ferry Building, to notice the benches and flowers though.

Another:

I have worked for the Port of San Francisco for six years, the administrative offices for which are located in the front of Pier 1.  I have a special attachment to this picture, because I also happen to run the Port’s unofficial happy hour.  When I first came to work at the Port the pier in the foreground was in terrible condition, with the apron facing the water (an apron is the decking that creates a space between the pier shed itself and the water) was crumbling and extended only a foot or two past the end of the Shed.  The building was unoccupied.  For the first three years, we watched slowly being developed into what I knew would be the ultimate afterwork drinking spot for my happy hours.

Another:

I know this is the Peruvian restaurant La Mar because I celebrated New Years Day there two years ago with my family. My brother was about to be in the doghouse for getting too drunk until I decided to one up him and become the drunkest person in San Francisco. His girlfriend was too busy being annoyed with me to pay him any attention.  Since then he has called me The Wizard because I make magic happen.

Another:

First I thought someplace near the London Canal Museum, but the railings didn’t match.  The plaque on the railing was the only meaningful clue to me.  A few Google searches for waterfront, railings, and plaques turned up some similar-looking plaques with Herb Caen quotations about San Francisco.

Attached is a picture from a few windows closer to shore.  The railings, lamp posts, and hanging flowers seem similar enough (marked in the photo).  The photo was taken by someone working in the office area visible through the glass partition.  Based on a little more poking around on Google, I would guess that this is the Bloomberg SF bureau in Suite 101.

So so close. Another:

View from Pier 3 looking back to Pier 1.5, just north of the Ferry Building.  Shot from the offices of San Francisco Waterfront Partners, standing about 10 feet from their conference room. Just a guess.

And a correct one!  But the winner of this week’s contest goes to the reader who sent in a photo for the tie breaker:

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@theatlantic.com. Winner gets a free The View From Your Window book. Have at it.