Category: View From Your Window

A reader writes:

I have no idea, but in the words of Liz Lemon, “I want to go to there.”

Another writes:

After getting a number correct without winning, I haven’t had a clue for the last few weeks, and this one’s a wild guess.  Just based on the number of yachts, the affluent, colonial nature of the architecture, and the only vantage point I could find that makes any sense, I will guess the New York Yacht Club, 5 Halidon Avenue, Newport, RI.  Looking forward to see how just how abject of a guess that is.

Another:

My gut reaction was northern Italy, lake region – Lake Como, Lake Maggiore, or Lake Garda.  The red and yellow buildings, as well as the density of the development, led me to believe it was Lake Garda, the largest lake in Italy.  And the square-topped tower you can see far in the distance seems typical of the area (kind of near Verona).

Another:

Sorrento, Italy? It helps that my mother is from Gaeta, just a little north of Naples. The marina is unmistakable (unless I’m wrong, of course).

Another:

My 9-year old daughter and I feel that it is Napoli, Italy.  Her first observation was that the trees indicate that there must be a change in season.  The architecture reminds me of an older, European style, and she thought that because of the boats, it must be Italy. All of my kids (9, 7 and 6) are really enjoying this game.

Another:

If it weren’t winter, I’d guess Switzerland or Italy. So probably Southern Hemisphere. I know next to nothing about boats, but I have a hunch it’s New Zealand, so I’m going to guess this is a harbor.  From Google images, Wellington Harbor looks too built up. The view looks a bit like some photos I found taken in Devonport, New Zealand. But I have to run to my Spanish conversation group soon (my husband mentioned the contest was up right as I was getting ready to walk out the door, and I couldn’t resist) so I’m going to guess somewhere in Torpedo Bay, Devonport, New Zealand.

Another

Lima, Peru? This has no chance of being right, but it gives me an excuse to make sure you know that even those of us who never enter the contest derive enormous pleasure from it.  I usually spend a half hour or so muddling around before I give up, but I always love the Tuesday reveal. Thanks to all who make this possible and all those smart smart people who can figure it out!

One reader who figured it out:

Darling Point, New South Wales, Australia:

This is the third week in a row for me! Still not expecting to win, and actually, part of me doesn’t want to win … would it mean I’d have to retire?

Another:

This is looking out across Double Bay towards Blackburn Cove, on the south side of Sydney harbour.  A beautiful spot for a long, liquid lunch on an autumn afternoon.  Takes me back to when I lived in Sydney (1991-93), and makes me wish I was back there.

Another:

I used to live off in the distance, and south a bit.  This was too easy for any Sydney-sider – the abundant red-brick buildings are an immediate tell.

Another:

The tree in the foreground is a Norfolk Pine, making this somewhere in New Zealand or Australia. The city looks big, which means Australia. The boats and density around the harbour suggest Sydney. It only took a couple of minutes to identify the features in Google Maps.

Another:

The park at the very bottom of the window view is Steyne Park. If you were to look to the left side out of the window, you’d see up to Darling Point.  No doubt a fantastic place to view the New Year’s Eve Fireworks, and an even better place to be sitting on the 26th of January when Australia Day is celebrated!

Another:

I noticed the water tower in the distance.  Since it seemed far away but still pretty large, I figured that it must be something of a landmark.  A search of Google Images for “water tower” and “bay” – since the body of water didn’t look like a river or a lake – turned up the attached photo from Flickr of a similar tower surrounded by buildings that looked a lot like the buildings in the VFYW photo.  The location given was Rose Bay, NSW, near Sydney.  I explored a bit with Google Maps and found that Double Bay, next to Rose Bay, had the same kind of semicircular jetty and piers.

Another:

The Redleaf beach shark enclosure in the distance is the giveaway. As soon as I saw it I immediately heard the gentle lapping of the salty water, the distant horns of passing ferries and boats, the buoyant conversation and laughter of the kids and parents and gay boys on the the pontoon. It strikes me as something magical that the dusk light, the colour of the sky and water are so specific in Sydney that I can identify it within a few seconds in any given photograph.

This is the city I was born in and have lived all my life, and despite traveling in three other continents, I always longed for home. Now for the first time I am preparing to leave, to follow love and live with my boyfriend in another city. But the unique light and colour of Sydney will always be inside me no matter where I go. Today though I will pack my towel and head to Redleaf one last time before I leave. Its overcast, mild and humid – not a bad day to read under a tree and watch the men in speedos.

Another:

This one was amazing easy. I immediately saw this photograph and thought, “Sydney”, where I spend a fair amount of time (three weeks) every year, since husband is an Aussie.  The inlet, the marina, the style of the  apartment houses and the low lying hills and greenery all screamed “Sydney Harbour” to me. So I grabbed my iPad, hopped on Google Earth and did a quick survey of the Harbour inlets and found something that, from above, approximates this scene at Double Bay. This photo seems to confirm it. (Note the tan colored apartment house to the left, which matches up with the one in your photo.) Here‘s a view looking from the other direction, towards where this photo was taken. This image definitely confirms it.

The irony in all this is that, when I showed my husband your photo and said, “This is Sydney, right?” he looked at it, smirked, said “Nope. Don’t think so.”

Another:

Happy memories of a long-ago summer in Sydney, where I sailed out of Rushcutter’s Bay, which is one bay closer to the Bridge and the Opera House. The sheds with the little wharf are where they sail those spectacular but annoying 18ft skiffs from – annoying because they whizz across the harbour in packs and adopt a robust approach to the rules of the road rather than lose speed and end up (spectacularly) capsizing.

Another:

Nearby are the fashionable shops and cafes of Double Bay (also unflatteringly known as “Double Pay” for the steep markup in prices simply for the privilege of shopping here).  Historically, it’s been thought of as something like Sydney’s version of Rodeo Drive.

Another:

No wonder Nicole Kidman had a house there.

Another:

The enclosed swimming area is a famed gay mecca, Redleaf pool. Double Bay is also referred to as Double Park, as there are many, many SUVs about the place. And it was a hotel in Double Bay where Michael Hutchence, the lead singer of INXS, committed auto asphyxia :(

Another:

Just off to the left of the picture, Double Bay curves round to Point Piper where you will find the most expensive domestic real estate in Australia.  Just off to the right of the picture is the route of the City-to-Surf, the annual 14km run from the centre of town to Bondi.  The run goes up the hill and round the water tower that can be seen in the top left of the photo before heading back towards Bondi Beach. It’s the one time of the year I visit this part of Sydney.  (I prefer to stay on the North Shore – the other side of the Harbour Bridge – where we have much nicer suburbs.)

Another emails a video showing the opulence of the real estate:

Another:

I’m not a Sydney-sider but I immediately recognized Sydney Harbor (I had the pleasure of growing up in Perth, the cultural wasteland on the other side of the country).  The photo is of the very exclusive Double Bay and looks like it was taken from an apartment in 35A Southerland Crescent.  As the photo suggests, Sydney is a wonderful city is you are very rich.  But most residents live in the endlessly drab western suburbs. If I were ever forced to return home, I’d move to Melbourne.  Sydney has its gaudy harbor, but Melbourne is a much better place for non-gazillionaires to actually live.

Another sends a follow-up email and nails down the exact address (along with a half-dozen other readers, including one who created a wonderful 4-page PDF presentation):

Oh no!  I should have checked all the tabs I had open before hitting send! I’d like to change my guess slightly; I think it must have been from the building at 4 Marathon Road. Check out this old real estate listing for a near identical picture.

But the tiebreaker this week goes to the following reader, for reasons that will become obvious:

Wow – lightning can strike twice.

I am an Australian living in Switzerland for the past ten years, so I immediately recognized Sydney Harbour with the boats, the fenced off swimming area to protect from sharks, and the style of houses.  Being fairly-clustered, old multi-storey apartments means it is close to the centre. A couple of minutes on Google and you can see that it is Double Bay.

What is amazing for me is that I happened to be flying into Sydney today for the first visit in three and half years.  I was planning on going for a run along the harbour shore, so I headed off to Double Bay!  I can’t be certain of which apartment block it was taken from, but the best guess I could work out was the block at 4 Marathon Road. Here are some pictures on that run – one with the view in the background, one on the jetty in the middle of the pier, and one with the apartment block that the photo was taken from.  All of them were taken by some friendly passers-by who will now be checking out the Dish.

Hopefully this will get me over the finish line: I have had a few correct answers, most notably when I managed to go VFYW hunting with my parents and take my photo for contest #8, where the location was Lausanne, Switzerland, near where I now live. It is such a nice symmetry to be able to do the same on the other side of the world in the country where my journey started!

(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’ve never gotten any right, but this time I think I have a shot.  I believe this is the square outside Notre Dame Des Victoires Church in Quebec City, Canada.  My wife and I celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary this past summer in Quebec City.  There’s no place like it in North America.

Another writes:

That looks like a square in Puno, Peru, the city on Lake Titicaca.  If I recall correctly, there were some cut hedges in the middle of the square and it was on a college or high school. My then-girlfriend, now-wife, and I went there after we finished grad school.  It was August and freezing cold. I had altitude sickness.  The people were really nice and I got a nice pair of wool gloves right there.

Maybe I’m wrong, who knows?  Either way, it was a great trip five years ago, and I’m now listening to that girl sing a John Lennon to our 4-month-old daughter. Thanks for raising the memory of the start of our relationship.

Another:

Tallin, Estonia, Townsquare. Been there, done that. Five minutes.

Another:

My first impression is Prague. I lived there for awhile, and the gently-sloped roofs and rooftop decks remind me of the city. The graffiti would fit, too. But the street surface looks too nice for most of the city, and I recall the nicer parts of town having mostly cobblestone streets. It’s been almost ten years, so I could be very wrong. The newer construction in the background is probably a hint – I can’t think of many cities I’ve visited that have this kind of architecture but would permit skyscrapers right there. It’s probably somewhere in France or Germany, but I’ll go with Milan, Italy.

Another:

At first glance there is a lot here. But really it could be so many places. The cars look European. There is no sign of snow, so somewhere southern Europe, probably on the Mediterranean.  And some nice urban regeneration (probably EU funded). So we are thinking Marseille in France, Valencia or Barcelona in Spain, or Genoa in Italy.  The graffiti is tagged as “Nico” a very common nickname for Nicolas in France. So we will stick with Marseille.

Another:

Metz, France? I think I’ve seen that “NICO” tag there before, near Luxembourg. But there are no tall buildings like those in Luxembourg. Could be Thionville, too.

Another:

That there is both Spanish tile roofing and a presence of small European style efficiency cars permits one to quickly narrow down the likely possibilities to somewhere in Spain. This square vaguely reminds me of one I passed through in Barcelona while backpacking across Europe in college (how cliche, I know!), and so I’ll go with that. Since others are likely to also guess Barcelona, I’ll say that this square is on a side street feeding into the Las Ramblas strip.

Another:

It’s Madrid, Spain.

I say Spain because of the way the buildings are done, mostly because the window frames are painted in white, and because of how the street and the square have been refurbished. That’s how streets and square now look all over Spain. It’s Madrid because of the two tall buildings in the background. The exact location would be somewhere in the upper left third of the picture attached.

Another:

Those are two of the tallest buildings in Madrid, the Torre Madrid and the Edificio España. The view is specifically the intersection of Calle del Espíritu Santo and Calle del Marqués de Sta Ana. My partner knew it was Madrid right away by the balconies and façades and towers in the distance. Also, Spain holds a special place in our hearts – I proposed to my partner there and we plan on getting married there.

Another:

Finally, a VFYW that jumped at me and screamed, “You live there!”  I had already recognized my beloved Madrid even before I noticed the unmistakable brown booth that the ONCE (Spanish organization for the blind) uses to sell lottery tickets.

Another:

As it happens, I live nearby. Before moving a few months ago, I lived a couple blocks away from the square itself.  Clues that tipped me off: the main building of the Plaza de España in the background, the style of trashbins, and the red flooring material in the playground area. All are VERY familiar looking. It’s a rather fun neighborhood and worth a visit if you’re in the area.

Another:

Wonderful area in Madrid where all the queens hang out. I clearly remember a chicken place nearby called “Pink Pollo”. And yes, that looks like the time when you come out of the club, especially if you think about going out at 2AM. Good times!

Another:

That latest picture is from the Plaza de Juan Puyol, that sits in a somewhat sketchy, but otherwise endearing, part of my very own hometown of Madrid. If any you guys ever plan on coming over, and you happen to need a guide, especially if you need some help navigating Madrid’s legendary nightlife, do not hesitate in contacting me. Despite the brutal crisis we’re going through, Madrid remains the world’s capital of fun.

Another:

I’ve been a reader since your page Conde Duque, Chueca etc. I can’t remember the name of the plaza, but there are tons of them like this in Madrid and they have been the center of the botellón controversy of recent years.  The botellón are outdoor parties in public spaces that go until daylight.  Hundreds and sometimes thousands of young people who can’t afford or are otherwise disinclined to party at the discotecas simply take the party public and everyone brings their own booze (hence the name).  Unfortunately, people also live in the Plazas and have to suffer the noise and trash (mostly bottles) the partiers leave behind.  It’s quite the spectacle.

Another:

I recognized the location immediately. Last May, for my 50th birthday, I traveled with friends from San Francisco to Spain. We met up with an old friend, who had moved to Madrid with his Spanish partner when same sex marriage was introduced in Spain (in the US, his partner was on a temporary visa). We were drinking at Bears Bar Madrid in Chueca until 3:30 a.m. (the madrugada, as the early morning is called there), when my friend took us on a tour of Madrid. By 4 a.m., we were standing in the little square in the Malasaña, where the contest picture was taken. The square was filled with Spanish hipsters, with their tight jeans and Vespas, drinking cans of beer sold for one euro by Chinese women street vendors. We bought cans of beer and hung out right at this location. I thought that we could have been in the Mission District of San Francisco, drinking cans of PBR with the Mission hipsters.

Thanks for the fond memory. It distracted me from today’s tragedy in Arizona.

Another:

This was one of the more intriguing journeys I’ve experienced in this contest, because a public art dimension emerged  along the way.  I started out analyzing the usual elements – predominant roof color and materials, building and balcony design, the mix of old and new architecture, presence of air conditioners, and types of vehicles.  I looked first at Prague, but felt there were Latin influences because of the balcony design.  What unlocked the locale was grafitti:  I Google-imaged “graffiti Europe” and was led to images from a project in Barcelona in 2007 called Difuson, in which artists were invited to paint public spaces before a new ordinance went into effect banning graffiti.

I scoured Barcelona but couldn’t find the same modern high rises as those in the VFYW’s background.  So I went to Madrid and found the high rise on the right in someone’s Flickr collection.  Using Google Earth, I figured out the angle of the neighborhood facing the high rises, pulled away, then flew over and spotted the dark brick square in the middle of the small plaza.  I Googled some of the landmarks, found the street, and zoomed in via Street View to confirm the details and find the building from which the photo was taken.

Another:

The graffiti made this too easy – a search for “nico graffiti” got me to this and this [see left] within a few seconds, which got me to the city name. A bit more googling got me a blog of what appears to be all the locations of Nico’s tags in Madrid, but unfortunately – despite the map, which I thought would get me there – no luck.  Frustratingly, none of the many pictures I found of the graffiti actually mentioned the street name. I spent a while fruitlessly walking around a virtual Madrid in google maps, which was fun. But I suppose I need to give up there – I’m sure someone will get closer, but hey – it was fun trying!

The photographer of the above shot has an astounding Flickr set of graffiti throughout Madrid – nearly 5,000 photos. Another:

Since the graffiti was the biggest clue, I kept searching Google Images for photos of graffiti in European cities.  I hit paydirt when I found a photo (attached) of the triple-breasted bass-playing alien – Eccentrica Gallumbits of Eroticon Six, anyone? – on the blog of someone who had just visited Madrid.

I can honestly say that I’ve never searched for “triple-breasted” and “graffiti” on Google Images until today.  The VFYW content enriches my life in so many ways …

Another:

This was a hell of a way to spend a (hungover) Saturday.  It went like this …

My gut told me the photo was Antwerp, Belgium, which is why I bothered pursuing this at all.  But a search for the Nico of the graffiti turned up this one Flickr image that was tagged with Madrid.  The style looked somewhat similar to the Nico in the VFYW photo.  Ah, yes, the red tile roof!  I hadn’t noticed it initially.

Then my hell began.  Should I admit that I spent hours flying over the streets of Madrid on Google Earth and roaming the streets in Street View?  I just couldn’t find the spot.  I eventually went back to searching for Nico, and 20 seconds later found image, obviously the graffiti wall in the photo.  It was tagged as being in the Malasaña  section of Madrid.  Someone with the handle fearthesting2000 had left the comment “Which street is this on?” a mere four hours before.  A competitor!  After leaving a taunting comment, this new lead and the idea of a tangible competitor inspired more time with Google Maps.  And more searches.  And more time with Google Maps.

And then I gave up.  I drafted my email to VFYW, knowing I probably couldn’t win with “the Malasaña section of Madrid” but figuring I might as well throw the Hail Mary Pass after all the time I wasted.  But something went screwy when I clicked Send.  I lost the email.  What a waste.

I went to dinner with my wife.  By the time we returned home I was rejuvenated, so I got back to it, paying careful attention to the angle of the buildings and trying to follow them out to the right spot.  Then, finally, I just stumbled upon it.  The graffiti is different in Street View, but clearly it’s the right place.

That bastard fearthesting2000 has probably beat me to it, but here’s my entry:  Madrid, Spain, 24 Calle del Espiritu Santo, Top Floor (4th floor if using the Euro floor counting system), window on the north side (near the corner where 24 meets 26 Calle del Espiritu Santo).

Another:

One of the apartments in the building is for sale for a mere 260,000 euros. You can see the details including a video shot from the window directly below where the picture was taken. The address is 24 Calle del Espíritu Santo, 28004, Madrid, so that’s our guess. No idea about the apartment number, but it looks like it’s on the fourth floor.

I’ve never been to Madrid, so I don’t have a great story to try and convince you that I should win (though I did get Camden, NJ correct a few weeks ago). I guess if the graffiti artist sees the comments on his Flicker page and enters, then we are all screwed anyway.

Another:

This is funny; I live in Madrid and moved to a new flat three days ago (I lived for six years at San Bernardo street, in the Malasaña neighbourhood). and I was thinking about sending you a picture from my new bedroom window, aimed for the contest. And this morning I find a picture in Madrid in your contest. Mine would certainly be more difficult than the one you just published, which is very easy to identify for anyone who knows Madrid.

Another:

As with last week, I have no interesting story or insight to share about this location, but I’ve read enough about the plaza (did you know it was named after a double agent in WWII who helped deceive the Nazis about the invasion at Normandy?) and Malasaña (a “counterculture” neighborhood struggling with gentrification) that I feel like I’ve been there. I suppose that’s the true joy of this contest – giving an overworked father of a toddler with no hopes of traveling internationally anytime soon the chance to go on a globe-spanning treasure hunt for a few minutes each weekend. Thanks for the fun!

Finding a winner for this week’s contest was difficult, since there were so many precise guesses. Nearly a dozen readers submitted screenshots and schematics similar to this one:

So with all the technical guesses canceling themselves out, we are going to award the prize to the following reader, who was both accurate and in need of a morale boost:

On Friday afternoon at 4:00 (they wait until you have worked the whole day), I got laid off from the firm where I have worked for the past 11 years.  So, what do I do this weekend? Start preparing for a job hunt, right??  Oh, no.  I spend Saturday afternoon, all day Sunday, and all day Monday solving VFYW. Thanks!

Well, at least I got the exact location.  I began by going to Flickr for my first time and putting in a search for “graffiti” and “Nico” which lead me to a photo of the wall art(?) and a byline of Malasana, Madrid.  That was the easy part. After scanning Madrid from airspace (a.k.a. Google Earth) and fruitlessly searching for hours, I put a search in for “tall buildings madrid” in Google images and found the tall building in the background on the right. That gave me the location of that building. So I then went on Google earth, turned on the 3D option and found the tall building and the smaller one to the left, figured out the viewpoint from where the VFYW photo was taken and just worked my way backward from there. In a matter of seconds, I “flew” across the courtyard in the photo, did a little 360 in the courtyard and found the building from where the photo was taken. Exact location – at the end of Calle del Marques de Sta Ana, in the building that houses the la Dominga Restaurante, on the top floor.

Now, I figure I have four good days of intense job hunting before the next contest.

(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:

After last week’s tough one, this one has few clues.  The building/landscape looks to be about 10 years old.  Building a decade ago was focused primarily in Florida and Spain.  I’ll pick the latter, perhaps Malaga.

Another writes:

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil? My guess is due to the boardwalk tiles. They look remarkably similar to what I remember of the Copacabana beac. But it was 14 years ago that I visited, at the tender age of 17!

Another:

The sidewalk mosaic of pedra portuguesa says Brazil (although it could also be a resort in Portugal) along with the palms and beautiful beach.  It’s not Rio, because of the reef out there.  So I’m guessing Recife (“reef” in português).  No idea what resort hotel and I give up after a few Google Image searches on variations of “calçada, praia, pedra portueguesa, mosíaco, ondas, círculos,” etc.  I don’t want to take the time to scan the coastline with GoogleEarth.

Another:

Last week my best guess would have been Luxembourg but for the fact that I didn’t think there was enough snow in the photo.  So this week I’ll just send in my first gut impression guess.  This looks to me like the Persian Gulf, so I’ll guess some resort near Dubai.  Now I won’t have to regret not sending in a guess.  :)

Another:

Another good view – could be any resort coast in the world.  As usual of late, I can’t come up with a good guess in my 15 minute limit.  But my googlin’ was not in vain; I learned a little about detached segmented breakwaters.  One of the best things about this contest is that it leads me down some interesting rabbit tracks.

But back to my guess: the color of the water and wave characteristics feel like the Pacific (although I know most any ocean can look like another in the right light and weather), the time seems to be morning (low angle shadows, chairs all stacked up), so I believe this coast is facing south.  Thinking about possibilities, how about Punta de Mita near Puerto Vallarta?  I think there are enough luxury resorts there to throw some money at breakwaters …

Another:

I am positively giddy as I write you this, as I think I have found the exact spot where this week’s pic was taken: The Tel Aviv Promenade, in Israel.

Never having been to Tel Aviv myself, I have to admit that my discovery was a bit of a fluke. I Googled “concentric circles beach images” and was lucky enough to find this pic with a legend indicating it was taken on the Tel Aviv promenade, also known as the Tayelet. Then it only became a matter of finding the right spot on the promenade. Unfortunately, Google Maps was of little help, as I was not able to use Streetview to peruse the area. However, using Google Images, I was able to confirm that it was indeed the Tel Aviv Promenade, in an area close to the Sheraton. The attached picture shows the same swing set as the one at the edge of your pic.

So, am I close?

Spot on! But dozens of other readers also recognized the promenade. One writes:

There are two key clues to the location. One – the stone breakers in the ocean are located along most of Tel-Aviv’s coast due to the rip tides in the Mediterranean.  Secondly, the distinctive circular pattern of the walkway near the beach looks just like the Herbert Samuel Promenade (another name for the Tayelet).  The palm trees are also a nice indicator as well.  I’m sure that it is more then possible that there is another location in the world that has all three of these features, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.  I’d bet that someone will write in and give you the exact location down to the address, but I’ll consider it a moral victory just getting the city correct.

Another:

The colour of the Mediterranean, the width of the beach, the rock breakers just off shore – it all reminds me of the place. Just missing a few hairy dudes with a nargila.

Another:

Damn you and this insidious contest.  I only discovered the VFYW contest three weeks ago.  I was able to figure out Camden in pretty short order due mostly to my familiarity with The Ben Franklin Bridge.  Last week I couldn’t narrow my guess any further than “somewhere in Europe”.  This week I wasted more time than was in any way justified.  The breakwater and the circular pattern of the sidewalk was my jumping off point.  The sidewalk pattern along the Copacabana in Rio was close but no cigar.  The signage suggested a busy public thoroughfare but I couldn’t find any popular resort beaches in the US, Mexico or the Caribbean with the low breakwaters except on the south coast of Curacao but they lacked the distinctive sidewalks.  A number of Italy’s Mediterranean beaches have breakwaters but they are much chunkier.

Finally, while searching photos of “beach promenades” I spotted a photo that included both the sidewalk and the jetties.  Unfortunately, once I honed in on Tel Aviv I couldn’t find a photo that included the stairs and the signage.  I found a vacation video that I’m convinced would have been more helpful if the videographer hadn’t gotten distracted by the jumping girl at 1:50.

Another:

I immediately thought Tel Aviv from the circular patterns in the pavement, but the little globular while street lights clinched it.  I searched “tel aviv beach from hotel” in Flickr and found this photo, which clinched the location.

Another:

I snooped around and found this 360-degree view of that exact location. So this is the entrance to Gordon Beach in Tel Aviv, as seen from the left hand side of the Sheraton hotel. If I had to guess, I would say the picture was taken somewhere between the second and fifth floor (the parking garage next to the Sheraton is barely visible on the left and side of the picture). Good stuff – I used to live about five minutes walk from there.

Another:

It’s a great beach even time of year, just not the water. I was there for New Years Eve 2008. Several friends of mine got a hotel together and had to cram five people into one room. Luckily one guy decided to stay later at the bar and passed out on the beach from 3am to 6am. (A few days later in that area I had to help a Russian photographer carry a tripod late at night right before taking a bus through the Sinai into Cairo.  Fun times.)

The circle pattern and the boardwalk gives it away. I had to make sure and confirmed it with this video of a bike ride. They even say that the boardwalk is a little wierd. Also I have never seen those kinds of wave breakers elsewhere.

Another:

Woo-hoo! I finally got one that wasn’t ridiculously easy. Or maybe this was easier than I thought (the lack of high quality satellite images was a hindrance).  This shot was taken from the 6th floor on the southern side of the Tel Aviv Sheraton looking west. See attached picture for a map with the approximate sight lines. And here‘s a link to a Google Map.

I have no personal story or any interesting facts about this hotel, this beach or even Tel Aviv, although the picture is a nice contrast to the gray outside my window today.

Another:

I recognize that boardwalk design anywhere! It’s where I proposed to my wife exactly seven years ago during our Thanksgiving vacation. She thankfully said Yes. We’ve been looking to go back for a visit and with this photo, I cannot imagine a better time than now!

Another:

Recognized this almost immediately, and checking the pattern on the promenade with google images confirmed it. This is a view of the Tayelet, where I spent one idyllic morning spent walking up and down while my Israeli friend drove his mother around to all the doctor’s offices of Tel Aviv. (Seeing as I couldn’t even win when you featured the building I had lived in for three years, I am certain I won’t win this one, but it still was a beautiful time spent on that beach.)

Another:

I had the pleasure of staying in that hotel several times while on business with the U.S. Army.  It has the best breakfast ever!  Your contest brings up many such locations and fond memories.

Another:

I also once stayed at this part of the beach, high up in a hotel. About eight years ago, a friend and I were filming a documentary and had to film some footage in Israël. My friend, who is Israeli, decided not to go frugal, but, instead, to spend some money for a really nice hotel, so that we could relax after work and not feel miserable in some crummy place. We moved into this large 5-star place at the beach. Every day after filming we would rush back to the hotel for a post-work dip, since the pool was open until nine. It was great. I could not for the life of me remember its name and I wasn’t sure of the exact location, so thank you for letting me spend part of New Year’s day checking out the websites of Tel Aviv hotels.

Another:

I’m fairly sure I have this one nailed. The window is on the south side of the Sheraton Tel Aviv, fifth floor, closest room to the beach. Although, I didn’t propose to my girlfriend on this balcony or happen to be looking at it while reading The Dish, I did film a scene from a travel montage on Israel and Palestine on the section of beach in the photo. The Dish was kind enough to run that video as a Mental Health Break not too long ago. I’ve attached a photo I took from ground level at this same spot. Love it!

Another:

This is the beach in Tel Aviv (picture taken from the Sheraton hotel). The beach is called Frishman. The “Sheraton beach” is farther north. A more interesting beach is the Hilton beach to the north of Frishman.  It is Tel Aviv’s gay beach, and is right next to a sex segregated religious beach.  A juxtaposition that might be more remarkable in a country that wasn’t already so full of them.

The winner of this week’s contest goes to the following reader, who has correctly guessed several views but has yet to get the prize:

Another challenging photo.  The color of the sand and the shape of the trees suggested a beach resort somewhere other than the Pacific, the Caribbean, etc.  The southern Mediterranean or Red Sea seemed more likely.  (Also, since there is a gentleman wearing a dark suit walking toward the left edge, it seemed likely that the photo was taken in a city with several beachfront hotels.)

After looking at various North African coastlines on Google Maps for a while, I decided to try something else.  I used Google Images to search for various beaches with breakwaters and distinctively patterned beachside walkways.  Eventually I came across Tel Aviv’s Shlomo Lahat Promenade [a section of the Tayelet] which displayed the same pattern as in the photo.  I also found photos of the same stacked beach chairs.

The satellite photos on Google Maps are rather blurry and Google Street View is not available – a sobering indication that Tel Aviv is taking its security very seriously.    Judging from the position of the photographer in relation to the breakwater and the roundish area of green in the walkway, I would guess that the photo was taken from a building between Hayarkon and Retsif Herbert Samuel Streets (map attached).  My hunch is that this is a hotel, and the Sheraton Tel Aviv seems to be the nearest.  The white color of the balcony appears to correspond to this external shot of the hotel (image attached).  The photo was taken from a south-facing room on one of the lower floors.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed on this one.  I’ve gotten a number of the recent photos correct – I was especially proud of Marais and Camden – but I’ve yet to make the final cut.  It would be a nice start to the new year …

Happy New Year!

(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, courtesy of Blurb. Have at it.

by Chris Bodenner

Between the low traffic of the Christmas weekend and the difficulty of the above view, the flow of entries this week was pretty weak. A reader writes:

A tricky one. The trees and colorful buildings suggested northern Europe, possibly Scandinavia. On the off chance that the tall white structure in the background is the Olympic Tower, my guess is Helsinki, Finland.  But judging from Google Maps, the terrain around the Olympic Stadium is a bit different from what appears in the photo – the position of the tower in relation to the hill in particular – so I'm not very confident.

Another writes:

This looks an awful lot like Bergen, Norway, a place I visited a couple of times two years ago while working on a cruise ship. The wooded hills in the background, the 19th century European buildings, and the telecommunications tower seem to match my memory very well.

Another:

The snowfall and something about the architecture drew me to Switzerland.  Bern seemed too historic to have the contemporary buildings in this scene, so I headed over to Zurich.  I'm guessing this was taken from one of the western cities on Lake Zurich, looking west.

Another:

I'm going to go with Austria. Why Austria?  1) The yellow apartment buildings – with pink trim on that one set of balconies.  2) The cars – both Renault and VW.  3) The modernist style mixed in with the drab post-war grey.  4) The green in front – such a typical plant for Austria.

Where in Austria? I'm going to make two guesses. My first vote is Bischofshofen. The second vote is for a town on the Westbahn, outside of Vienna, in the Wienerwald. That would be either Purkersdorf or Pressbaum. Why? I'm just guessing. No way I'm going to win, but it's fun to guess …

Another:

Salzburg, Austria? Probably not correct, as my guessing usually doesn't work. It's been a quarter-century since I spent Christmas in Salzburg, but the feeling is right. Thank you for making those memories return.

Another:

Bratislava, Slovakia? The gray winter; the small cars; the shortish, round mountain in the background; the 6-storey, old-school apartment buildings in the foreground with a blocky Soviet style building in the middle; and could that be the top of the Michalska Brana spire obscured by the tree on the left?

Another:

I'm at a loss.  My first thought was northern Europe.  I was going to say something in Scandinavia but stopped myself; wouldn't the snow fall be heavier?  So I'll go farther south.  ummmmmmmm, Warsaw, Poland?

Another:

Freiburg, Germany? A wild guess.  The look is glum-in-winter-Northern European.  Flirted with the Czech Republic (Karlsbad) because of the pastel-colored buildings, but the style isn't quite right and red roofs are the norm.  Germany has black roofs.  The hillside forest is deciduous, sprinkled with evergreens, which means it's not at an alpine elevation.  Also perused Canada briefly but couldn't find the same kind of building density.  Luxembourg City in Luxembourg was a candidate, but it's nestled in a steeper valley than this one.  Because it's in the Black Forest and colorful buildings abound, Freiburg is my choice.  (Seigen and Heilbronn were runners-up.)  But with my luck, after being Europe-centric for hours, the correct locale will turn out to be an old mill town in Maine.

The precise location of the view is Differdange, Luxembourg, taken on December 23 at 12:23 p.m. The following entry was the closest in geographical distance and thus the winner of this week's prize:

Idar-Oberstein, Germany? Just a random guess.

Never hurts to guess! 

(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, courtesy of Blurb. Have at it.

by Chris Bodenner

A reader writes:

The boarded-up factory building and aging steel bridge say either Rust Belt or parts of New England to me, and those tapered tubular steel stop light posts have become very popular in the Northeast in the past few years.  I haven’t been able to pinpoint the that bridge or building via Google maps so I just going to go with my gut and say Harrisburg, PA.

Another writes:

This view is one I’m pretty sure I have seen many times in the past three years.  It is on the rapid line (i.e. the train/rail system) in Cleveland, Ohio.  It could be either the blue or green line, as they both go on the same tracks in the same area.  The gray skies and snow, are of course, an obvious indicator of the Cleveland winter.  The bridge goes over the Cuyahoga river.  I just moved to Chicago about a month ago for more opportunities, both economically and for fun, so this photo made me a little homesick.

Another:

My first try at this. It’s an industrial city in the northeastern US, and it looks like Bethlehem, PA, looking toward part of what’s left of the steel plant we used to call “Beth Steel.”  I grew up in Allentown, in the next city over (to which Billy Joel incorrectly attributed some of Bethlehem’s “iron or coke, chromium steel.”) By the way, the town’s name is pronounced “BETH-lum,” in two syllables.  That’s how you can pick the Pennsylvania natives from the devout out-of-towners.

Another:

Is it a different angle on the recent window view from Lawrence, Massachusetts?

Another:

I found a cool website within a couple of minutes (bridgehunter.com) and was certain this would lead to the answer in short order.  But at my self-imposed 15 minute limit I had only started to figure out the difference between decked, through-, and camel-backed trusses – and was really no closer to a match among the 20,905 truss bridges they have posted. So it’s back to intuition.  Things that suggest Portland, Oregon include the light coating of slushy snow (I think they got some recently, a rare occasion), nicer street lamps, and the possible light rail tracks on the foreground street.  The air conditioners make me wonder, as does the age of the building.  If it’s near the light rail, how about Burnside or Steel Bridge taken from the eastern side of the Willamette.  I don’t think either are painted light blue, but my time’s up …

Another:

This looks like it might be from my part of the world (Southern Ontario, Canada).  That building in the background looks like a hockey rink, the kind that were built in the post war period (but before the 1867 Centennial when federal government built aluminum sided rinks across the country to celebrate 100 years of Canada, for some reason). The dumpster appears to have a WM logo on it (very common in Southern Ontario), and finally the snow. It may be leading me astray, but when I see snow, I think home. I’m narrowing my guess to Windsor because of the bridge in the background – it looks an awful lot like Ambassador Bridge connecting Canada with Detroit.

Another:

The photo was taken in Detroit, Michigan, somewhere in the vicinity of the Detroit River. In the background is the blue-painted Ambassador Bridge, which connects Detroit and Windsor, Ontario. In the foreground there’s a dumpster from a popular waste management company in the area, called simply Waste Management. You can see their green-W-yellow-M logo on the front.

Another:

Brooklyn? It’s got to be a reasonably large city with that kind of apartment building, elevated train track (I suspect it’s the F/G line, which I take to work from Washington Heights – a 90 minute commute!) and a factory. I think it’s Red Hook because of the elevated train and industrial presence commingling with apartment buildings. But that is an awfully large parking lot for New York, right?

Another:

Philadelphia? I have a strong feeling I’ve been in a Megabus from Boston to Philly riding over that blue bridge in the background there, and the warehouse seems to fit into that memory pretty well.

Another:

I’ll be damned, I think I actually got one. I only know of one blue bridge: the Ben Franklin from Philly to Camden. Google satellite showed nothing that fits the pic in Philly, where I used to live … so I went across the river and there it was. I think the photo was taken from the former Riverfront State Prison. Which may now house Victor’s Pub and/or a Susquehanna Bank branch. That’s what Google tells me. Anyway, that’s the Camden Board of Education building in the foreground.

Another:

I immediately recognized the drab landscape as the northeastern United States, and the snow on the ground suggested one of the Mid-Atlantic states that had modest snowfall this past week. Then, my gut told me that the bridge was the Ben Franklin Bridge.  As a former resident of Philadelphia, I knew it looked familiar.  For a moment I thought it might be the Philadelphia side, but the buildings didn’t seem quite right, and the angle and direction of ascent of the bridge seemed off.  So it dawned on me to check the Camden, New Jersey side.

So I looked on Google Maps for a largish parking lot near the waterfront in Camden, just south of the bridge, and bingo.  Google Street View provided the rest. The window in question is on the north side of the Victor Lofts (street address 1 Market Street), the former RCA Victor building.  I’ve circled my guess.

Another:

I used to live nearby and always hoped they’d make that historic RCA Building into something cool. Condos will do.

Another:

During Medical School in Dallas, TX, I used to date someone in Philadelphia and would travel there quite a lot. Her mother lived in Cherry Hill, NJ and we would drive over there when I was in town. I instantly recognized the color of the bridge as being that of the Ben Franklin Bridge. I tried to locate the shot taken from somewhere in Philly but was stymied. While at work at the hospital on Sunday, I asked a colleague of mine whose wife is from Philadelphia to take a look at the picture. He thought the photo was maybe taken on the NJ side as when they are back there visiting they go over to NJ with the kids to the aquarium. Another colleague joined the hunt and we nailed the photo in Camden, taken at the Victor Lofts looking out at the Camden Board of Education Building across Cooper street. The best part of the hunt was introducing several more folks to your blog.

Another:

At first glance, I immediately suspected a gritty eastern city, probably Baltimore.  I felt the big bridge in the background was my best clue to work on.  So I proceeded to Google Earth to examine every bridge in Baltimore, looking for the green color of the bridge in the background of the VFYW photo.  Finding none, I then went to Pittsburgh, which supposedly has more bridges than any other city in the United States.  Unfortunately, every bridge in Pittsburgh is Steeler yellow.  So Philadelphia was next.  Instantly I found that the Benjamin Franklin Bridge connecting Philly to Camden, NJ had the right shade of green.  My 13-year-old son then joined me and I had him examine the areas around either end of the bridge.  He soon spotted the pale red building in the background and hollered out “I found it!”

Another:

As a native of a Mississippi River town (La Crosse, Wisconsin), I immediately thought of any of a number of river cities where the high bridge comes into downtown.  I also thought the snow limited my search to the upper river.  After a few fruitless searches I realized I had to head east, where I was more likely to find rowhouses.  Ohio River?  Nope.  Cleveland?  Nope again.  Finally, I squinted at the large pixels to try to discern the license plates.  That led me to try New Jersey, home of the yellowish plates and a search of New Jersey bridge images.

I very quickly honed in on the Ben Franklin bridge in Camden, where I found the rowhouses, the fenced parking lot, and the old factory building, just south of the bridge approach.  This is clearly taken from the Victor loft apartments looking over Cooper Street.  I don’t have the fancy computer tools or ability to draw the likely viewshed or angle of the shot.  Here‘s the opposite view from the bridge.

Another:

Some background on Camden: the city had the most violent crimes per capita of any city in the US in 2009 and it announced in December it is laying off half its police officers.  Was this a Dish reader’s photographic protest against decades of government mismanagement in Camden?  There are (at least) five signs of local government at work in this picture:

1. The picture was taken on the day the notoriously corrupt Delaware River Port Authority OK’d a 25% fare increase in the toll for the pictured Ben Franklin bridge.

2. The trolley tracks in the foreground are for the River Line train, built for $1 billion, regarded as a boondoggle and completely empty on the Sunday afternoon we took the pictures.

3. The yellow trailer in the background marks the site of the former Riverfront prison, built in 1985 due to a short-term decision by the city to get millions in state aid by hosting the prison (and in the process destroying the marketability of the city’s waterfront).  The prison was demolished in 2009.

4. The parking lot is full of employees leaving the Camden Board of Education (the building on the right of the picture) right at closing time – 5:00 p.m. on the dot – judging from the light when the picture was taken.

5. Finally, the picture was taken from the Victor lofts, a luxury apartment building built in 2001 after a $1 sale to a developer.  The port authority spent $6 million in public money remediating the site before the sale in the hopes it would help revitalize Camden.

Was this picture intended to be a commentary on the woes of Camden … or was it just a picture of Camden? My guess is the latter.  But it’s still fun to speculate.

Another:

In the upper left hand part of the picture you can just make out just a bit of of Campbell’s Field, home of the minor league baseball team Camden Riversharks. Also, the tracks on the street are for the River Line light rail.  The Rutger-Camden stop and campus are just a couple blocks away. We used to live in Philly and my wife and I took our daughter several times to the aquarium just around the corner from this picture – a great place and worth the trip even though it’s a bit pricey.

This week’s winner selection was tough, since there were so many equally good and accurate guesses.  So the prize goes to the one belonging to the reader with the most previous correct guessers thus far:

Per my routine, I asked for my girlfriend’s input as soon as I opened the post.  I’m trying to convince her to compete with me in a mini-contest.  So far no dice – good thing too, because she gave me a lot of help on this one. She’s from Hoboken, NJ, and her first reaction was, “That’s New Jersey.” The license plates were the giveaway. 

I took it from there, and was able to ID the bridge through the HistoricBridges.org site as the Benjamin Franklin Bridge that heads straight into Philly. Interesting note about the building.  It was the headquarters of the Victor Talking Machine Co. (hence the name of the loft development), the early pioneers of the medium of recorded sounds.  This building saw the recording and production of some of the most beautiful music ever put to wax, including the sublime Caruso.

This was my fastest correct ID yet; I had it in less than 10 minutes.  But I’m sure this email will be buried under a deluge of emails from cheesesteak-eating Dish devotees.  Does it make a difference that this is my 4th correct ID in as many months?

Yes. One last detail from a reader:

For fellow dog lovers, Nipper, the old RCA/Victor mascot, adorns the stained glass on the tower on the opposite side of the building.

A final reader writes:

I’ll leave you with a poem from Daniel Nester called “abandoned rca buildings, camden, nj”:

The corner of Cooper       and the Delaware River
is stuck in between       my life and time
The boarded-up buildings       with stained-glass Nippers
echoes Caruso       early Sinatra
but this time the darkness       simply looks back
this time my life is       lost in fruit trees
I have walked each street       in shards of denim
I have watched my face       grow old tonight
and I stand on this mound       and try to forget
and continue to flourish       all passers-by
a man gets a match       another directions
a leashless dog       glimmers and breathes
I preside on this corner       in sole ministration
stumbling on rocks       to stickerbush patches
I have no hankering       for occupied buildings
I signal to inmates       up to the prison
I flail with a speech       known only to wives
I rumble and pass       the steel-latticed fences
and wait for a single       decent idea
And one came across       as one often does

The night the clock tower       lit up a bit early
out of synch with the sun       its superstrict schedule
And for the minute possessed       my life in a shell
the numbers behind       death being light
and after the light       time being light
Simple as that       the city hall tower
was death and time       in tandem together
was death and time       in darkness and light
thinking of Whitman       dead by the river
thinking of Rutgers       my pot-clouded lectures
the years I spent here       sleeping and reading
confusion at 20       whole brackets of time
crying and fucking       in chorus together
daytime malinger       staying inside
and right before that       daylight despair
that’s what I said       daylight despair
Please try to follow       just what I’m saying
I found my old corner       utterly silent
one string of lights        the invincible city
I lived here once       a sad-faced apprentice
I walked and returned       to silence my words

(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, courtesy of Blurb. Have at it.