Category: View From Your Window

A reader writes:

It’s snowing, so it’s a northern temperate climate.  It doesn’t look like the US.  Also, the “hotel” sign doesn’t help, since the word is the same in English, French, and German. I’m going to guess that the minivan is the clue.  I didn’t see too many people driving those in Prague or Vienna (two cities that this scene reminds me of).  I think this is the one city in North America that truly resembles a northern European city: Quebec City.

Another writes:

It’s obviously somewhere in Northern Europe.  The cleanliness of the streets makes me think that it’s somewhere in “Scandihoovia.”  I’ve spent a little time in Oslo, so I know that some of the inner-city neighborhoods were damaged during World War II, but there was nothing comparable to the flattening of urban areas that occurred in Germany. Hence the mix of old and new.  Norway remained a fairly poor country (by European standards) until the Oil Boom of the 1970s and ’80s, so the reconstruction of central city Oslo was marked by some particularly ugly buildings, such as the modern one in the photo.  Tåkk for alt!

Another:

The colorful European architecture next to the drab Soviet-style building is so very Czech. This picture was taken facing the Acc-nifos Lublanka hotel in the Nove Mesto (new town) neighborhood of Prague, I think the corner is Tylovo nam. As a proud Czexan (a Czech from Texas, of course), I especially treasured my visit to the homeland, in fact my family is from a small town, also called Nove Mesto, in Moravia. This picture brought me back, so thanks. Now excuse me while I go eat some kolaches and remember my trip.

Another:

That’s got to be Edinburgh.  They just had that big snowfall recently, and those kind of angled streets and buildings just scream “Edinburgh”.  Even with the snow, I wish I was there having a nice Tennent’s lager in one of the nearby pubs.

Another:

Southampton, England? First time trying for this contest. But I’m hungover and just wasting time in bed, so I thought, why not?

Another:

My first thought was that the stark concrete architecture of the building on the corner seemed Soviet or at least Eastern European.  But I doubt I’d see the word “Hotel” on many hotels in that part of the word, the snow means not-Mediterranean, and a quick Google search for “yellow zigzag street lines” told me that such a thing is common in the UK.  I’ve only been to Italy so I don’t know if they occur elsewhere in Europe.

At this point I’m still completely lost, so I take another stab in the dark.  The dude walking with the girl is wearing a red and white cap.  I have no idea if the practice of wearing baseball-style caps with team colors is at all common in the UK (I kind of doubt it), but another search tells me that red and white are the home colours of Liverpool FC (and, of course, the away colours of the England national team itself).  So I’ll say the city is Liverpool.

Another:

I have no idea where this is. But I can’t wait to find out where it’s okay to park on the sidewalk and the line dividing street lanes appears to have been painted by Dali.

Another:

So, that zig-zag line for the bus stop led me to Paris, France.  Being unable to sleep, I turned on the Google Earth hotel tag and scanned the city, looking for an intersection the shape of the one in the picture.  I found a few candidates, but couldn’t pin down the exact spot and gave up after a couple hours.  Still, what I did find was generally so similar to the location in the picture that I still think it must be Paris.

Another:

I’m guessing central Paris.  Along with the road markage being distinctly French (those zig-zag yellow lines), the big tip off is the road sign with its distinct French royal blue rectangle with a flourish on the top.  In addition, the bus stop’s sign has the Parisien turquoise, though can’t quite make out the route number which would be kind of helpful. But I can’t narrow it down from there, can’t see the arrondissement or any other detailing figure.  Stumped beyond that.

Another:

The bus stop with the turquoise sign just said “Paris” to me, as I have lived there. Plus one can glimpse the blue street sign to the right, balconies, and the word “Hotel” displayed vertically – all typical of Paris. Less typical is the newer architecture and relative lack of storefronts. I’m going to say the 20th arrondissement because of the newer construction.

I love Paris and was just there last week being interviewed for an art history film. I met my husband there (but in the 13th arrondissement), and I love to pore over Atget and Marville photographs of Parisian streets. All this makes it painful for me that I cannot name the street in this picture.

Another:

I guessed Paris right away because of those waist high poles lining the sidewalk. They are just high enough to give me excruciating pain if I’m not looking carefully where I’m going. The modern architecture would suggest either 7th district or one of the outlining districts, maybe 16th or 18th.  There’s also an RER sign on the bus stop. Still, the poles are all I need. They still exist in my nightmares.

Another:

The “French touch” of the picture for me are the poles sticking out on the edge of the sidewalks: their function is to prevent cars from parking on sidewalk. The renowned Parisian sophistication goes through the window when they’re behind the wheel.

Another:

All your French readers will probably guess this one, or be close. Apart from the snowstorm that fell on northern France last Wednesday, there are many clues. The bus stop, the street lights, the street signage all look French. The hotel seems like a typical Paris and close suburbs building, as well as the street sign. I thought the shop’s sign was for the optical chain “Krys”, but couldn’t find a shop close to a crossroad with the required angle on Google Maps. So I have no clue as to the exact location.

Another:

I grew up in Paris, and the photo has the unmistakeable feel of somewhere in the 5th or 10th arrondissement. In any case, native or not, the tell is the green translucent plastic garbage bag hanging from the pole: after 9/11 they turn all public trash cans into see-through monstrosities.

Another:

It’s definitely in France, because of the “French Windows” of the neighboring building, and it’s probably in Paris because of the shape of the street sign. The shape of the street sign is distinctive for Paris, at least to my knowledge: the rectangular field states the street name, a number under the bow above indicates the arrondissement.

Another:

I know this scene is in Paris, not just because I live here but because of the bus stop, the shape of the little blue street sign on the side of the building on the right and the bollards on the sidewalk. But the street sign is too blurred and so is the bus number for that stop. I just spent an hour on Google Earth looking at all the stops for the dark blue bus lines in Paris, but can’t find that spot. :-(

Another:

As soon as I saw the picture I knew it must be Paris, and it wasn’t hard to work out that it must be in one of Paris’s 19th century quarters, full of geometrically-designed streets meeting at acute angles. This is the intersection of Rues Commines and Froissart, Paris 75003. The building itself will carry several numbers, but the photo was taken from a window directly above Skyman Production company, listed at 1 Rue Commines. It’s the white building opposite the bank, and the photo was taken from the corner window on the top-but-one floor. I am rubbish with HTML etc, so after much fiddling with the code, the best I can do is insert a link to what I hope will be a google maps street-view of the building itself: Link.

I have probably cycled past this intersection on one of the city’s excellent rental bikes, on my many attempts to get from my cheap hotel near Porte de Clignancourt to the archives and libraries I’ve been using around Place Bastille as I work on a PhD in French history. The major roads near here are very busy and potentially dangerous (though I’ve never had trouble), so I would often cut through smaller streets like these. Brilliantly, this area is only a couple minutes walk from the delights of the Marais, and from the more trendy eastern districts. I envy your photographer his vantage-point.

Correct intersection! Another reader illustrates it further:

First, the architecture suggested continental Europe, and I recalled that there had been heavy snowfall in Paris recently. The details of the bus stop (zigzag pattern in the street, dark blue stop name sign, greenish route number sign) confirmed that it was Paris. From there, it was off to Google Maps to find narrow street blocks that looked similar to the layout of the photo. By chance, I was poking around Marais and found a likely candidate, so I switched to Street View and followed the bus I saw to the very street corner in the photo (the unusual shape of the ground floor window in the VFYW photo was the key to recognizing the place):

The photo is taken from the building almost directly across the intersection from the unusual window:

Remarkably, several readers guessed the correct intersection, building, and window. So to break the tie, this week’s prize goes to the only correct guesser of a difficult window in the past who hasn’t won yet:

The photo was taken from a 4th floor apartment on the corner of Rue Commines and Rue Froissart, Paris (Le Marais, 3rd Arrondissement). The hotel at left is the Hotel Commines (avoid at all costs, according to reviews!). The building across the intersection is an office block that appears to house several lawyers, whilst the apartments from which the photo was taken can be rented for about 1100 Euros per week.

From the reader who submitted the photo:

I took it from the fifth floor (sixth counting US-style) of the building at 92, rue de Turenne at 1:30p  on December 8, 2010.  View is of the Bretagne bus stop on line 96 at the corner of rue Commines and rue Froissart in the 3rd arrondissement.

It’s really fun to see it posted, and we can’t wait to see the guesses on Tuesday.

One of our favorite guesses:

We figured out the city by googling different European bus stations and realized this is Paris. We then split the city between us and used Google street view to browse the streets of Paris, looking for this specific corner. Not necessarily a smart move but we had a lot of time on our hands. Paul McCartney was rehearsing on the monitors. As he was singing “Give Peace a Chance” we were all virtually walking the streets of Paris. Thanks for a great day! The Interns at SNL …

See you Saturday!

(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.

A reader writes:

This looks like it could be any one of a thousand different college campuses.  At any rate, I’ll (wildly) guess this is Bryn Mawr. I dated a girl there 15+ years ago, and it sorta looks familiar.

Another writes:

Maybe it’s because I’m neck deep in exams, but this looks very much like a view out of the windows of Firestone Library at Princeton.  I could be delusional from all the all-nighters, though.

Another:

Leaves changing colors but dude still wearing shorts – gotta be the South! Davidson College in Davidson, North Carolina?

Another:

I wanted to cry initially because the clues seemed so paltry.  But then an epiphany: The dude jogging is wearing the University of North Carolina Tar Heel’s colors.  Gotta be somewhere on that campus.

Another:

This is my favorite VFYW picture yet.  So evocative of college memories and that all too short but wonderful late autumn time where the weather is crisp, the trees are beautiful, the final exams are lurking but with Winter Break ahead and 3-4 weeks off with nothing to do but visit family and old friends and eat, drink, sleep and play.  Can you imagine having 21 days off now and how wonderful that would be?

All that said, I have no clue on this one.  How about Chapel Hill?

Another:

I’m a loyal reader of your blog and have people here at work who guess amongst ourselves every week for this contest.  I am pretty sure of the answer this week since I’m pretty sure it is my alma mater.  This is a picture from a first flood window in Buttrick Hall on the Vanderbilt University campus in Nashville, TN.  The picture is pointing northeast.  The building to the far right is Garland Hall. I’ll include my address below for my prize if I win, although I have to assume alot of Vandy people have already sent in their guesses as well.

Another:

This is the first time I have made a guess for the VFYW Contest, and it is only because of this photo I took last autumn.  So here it goes: Student Union at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City.

Another:

That building on the right screams University of Florida to me.  I don’t remember the trees taking on that color, but they very well may in the later fall.  The young dude on the left wearing shorts further supports my inclination.  I’m just getting really really hard vibes that this is my favorite place in the world.

As to where the shot itself is taken from:  I’m going to have to guess that it’s Library West (which was only open my freshman year, ’01, but has since finished its remodeling phase.)  It is definitely one of maybe two or three buildings that could produce such a view of Plaza of the Americas (where my Cuban-exile parents met, btw!).

But I’m worried cus I don’t see any Spanish Moss …

Another:

I was originally going to guess Princeton simply because I know it has elm trees (and I’m not eligible because I won contest #3). And once again I’ve never been there, but one Google search for “elms on campus” goes straight to a similar photo at Penn State and an entire web site dedicated to all its elms. Based on the attached map, I’m guessing it’s the double column of trees on the west side of the mall at Old Main, but I expect you’ll have many scores of more precise locations than this one from old Nittany Lions … or from people far away from Pennsylvania who saw that view every fall on another campus that still has those stately old endangered trees.

Another:

The picture certainly looks like the quad of a Northeast college campus in autumn, especially because the colonial building on the right. I think the trees are Japanese maples. I am going to guess that this is my alma mater’s quad then: Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, possibly taken from Rockefeller Hall.

Another:

An allée of beautiful, mature ginkgos in what looks like a university campus.  I believe this may have been taken at the University of Tokyo, in Tokyo, Japan.

Another:

I am almost 100% positive about this one. I immediately recognized it as a college campus. I quizzed my father, a botanist, about the trees, which he identified as ginkgos (“I hope they are males, because the females smell like dog shit!”). So I started searching for college or university campuses with ginkgo populations. During one of these searches (on Google Image) I found this photo, which looks quite similar to the content photo but from a different angle. It’s Olin Library, on the campus of Washington University in St. Louis. A satellite search on Google Maps pretty much confirms it. I even bit the bullet and did a schematic marking the direction from which the photo was taken and the locations of the people in the photo (switch to satellite view). I’m attaching a screenshot too, just in case:

Another:

I looked at this picture and my heart almost stopped: I have seen this view thousands of times (no exaggeration). It’s the view from Olin Library, in the heart of Washington University in St. Louis, looking east. At the end of the path is Duncker Hall, home of the English Dept., where I spent many happy years getting a PhD in English, and where I met my husband. It was actually in Olin Library that he asked me out on our first date; it was at the end of a Renaissance Lit seminar which for reasons that I cannot recall anymore, was meeting in a seminar room in the Library. Duncker Hall blends into Eads Hall, home to the Foreign Languages Department, where my father-in-law spent four decades teaching Latin American Studies. The gingko trees are sublime (though being female, they shed their fruits in the late summer, and create a godawful stink when trodden underfoot).

Incidentally, I’ve written in to VFYW once before; I’m the college professor whose travel-themed Composition classes have been looking at the contest every week as a end-of-class-period fun exercise. (We guessed Galveston a couple of weeks back but didn’t write in.) Next week we have our last class meetings. I’m going to have fun having my students try to guess this one!

Another:

I knew exactly where this was the instant I saw it! I usually suck at guessing the locations, so I’m excited to see one that I can pinpoint to the nearest square foot! This is taken from the Ginkgo Reading Room in the Olin Library on the campus of Washington University. The view is looking east, towards downtown St. Louis and the Gateway Arch. My boyfriend and I graduated from WashU in 2007, and we both have fond memories of 2AM study sessions in this library. He took this picture in the room shortly after the library was renovated in 2004 (I was probably studying Organic Chemistry just out of frame):

Another:

Finally, all of those hours in the library paid off!  Although, if I’m being honest, I usually studied in the basement of this building which doesn’t have any windows.  This photo is taken looking east from the ground floor of Olin Library (which is the third of that building’s five floors).  From this view you can see Dunker Hall on the left, where I had classes, and Eads Hall on the right, where I occasionally ate lunch.  The entrance to the quad can be seen at the end of the tree lined path.  For good measure I just showed the photo to my wife, another alum, and she agrees: unmistakeably Wash U.  Thanks for the memories.

Another:

To a botanist, the ginkgo tree is unique for its leaf shape, bark, branches, and bright yellow fall color, all obvious in this view.  A Google image search for “ginkgo walkway” brought up a picture of this path on the Washington University campus as the first response (perhaps due to your many readers).  A second search for “Washington University ginkgo” brought up the Olin Reading Room, from which the picture was taken, and a poem, “The Consent,” by Howard Nemerov, WU faculty member and U.S. Poet Laureate, about these very ginkgo trees:

Late in November, on a single night
Not even near to freezing, the ginkgo trees
That stand along the walk drop all their leaves
In one consent, and neither to rain nor to wind
But as though to time alone: the golden and green
Leaves litter the lawn today, that yesterday
Had spread aloft their fluttering fans of light.

What signal from the stars? What senses took it in?
What in those wooden motives so decided
To strike their leaves, to down their leaves,
Rebellion or surrender? and if this
Can happen thus, what race shall be exempt?
What use to learn the lessons taught by time.
If a star at any time may tell us: Now.

Many poets become botanists because they have an place in their hearts for the attention a poet can give to a tree. The ginkgo is especially worthy of that attention.  Global in extent before the rise of mammals, it was thought extinct by European botanists, known only through the fossil record, until discovered growing in Buddhist gardens in China, from which it has again spread to gardens, streets, and campuses around the world.

Thanks from a botanist for your reminder of the pleasures found in nature, poetry, and work.  Now back to it.

Another:

When I was a grad student there in the ’90s, older Asian women would gather the gingko berries, the smell of which was memorably compared to human vomit by poet Howard Nemerov.

Another:

This is a true Proustian moment, as the sickly sweet smell of the gingko trees has been unleashed somewhere in my brain.

Another:

I’ll be damned if that isn’t the view out of my old university’s library, looking down the path toward the Brookings Quadrangle between the rows of ginkgo trees.  They all shed their leaves simultaneously at a certain point in the fall, and I’ve always wanted to witness that one moment when those trees all suddenly shuck and denude themselves like corn husks.

Oh, what fun!  My friends at Wash U always said that a social engagement never went by where I failed to mention the Daily Dish; it’s a delight to see my alma mater featured so prominently on the blog.

Another:

I remember one of these walks in particular, as I came in to campus early on a Saturday morning, right after the first hard freeze of the year. The yellow leaves on these trees had fallen en masse, turning the walkway into the yellowbrick road, and I was the first one to walk through them. It was sublime.

Another:

I haven’t seen that alley of gingko for 34 years, but apparently nothing has changed.  It’s impossible to forget the yellow transparency and tenacity of their fall foliage.  The only thing about this photo that does not compare with my memory is the vision of my professor, the poet Howard Nemerov, walking the path under a blazing blue autumn sky, the same color as his eyes.

Another:

I’m touched to see you include a picture that’s so close to the heart of those of us from my alma mater. I can note that the second tree on the right is an excellent tree to climb and read a book.

Another:

The building to the right is where I had most of my classes, and a favorite memory is having class outdoors underneath the trees.

Another:

The picture has been taken facing east from a window in the John M. Olin library back toward the main quadrangle, which was, after construction, leased to the organizers of the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair to be used as the event’s headquarters. At the same time, the 1904 Olympics would be held at the school’s Francis Field. Ridgely Hall (at the far end of the walk) and Holmes Lounge (the building on the right in the photo and the campus’s original library) were the location of the International Congress of Arts and Sciences, a week-long academic conference held in association with the World’s Fair. When I was a student pursuing my Ph.D. in British History at Wash U in the early ’90s, the location of this window was the main entrance to the building, so I walked down this avenue many times (after a major renovation, the main entrance is now on the south side of the building).

In the romantic/tragic story category: Holmes Lounge is now a student lounge and I spent many hours between classes there with my friends, including my first wife, who died shortly after I completed my degree and shortly before she completed hers. There is now a commemorative brick in her honor in the plaza outside the entrance to the lounge near the far end of the walk in this photo.

Another:

As a grad student at Wash U, I pass through the area of the original picture almost every day, and I stopped by today on my way to lunch.  I’ve attached a picture of the window this was taken through from the outside as well as a view from a window of the original view from the window.

As a physicist, I also have to point out that the building you see to the right is Eads Hall, where Arthur Holly Compton did a series of experiments  and discovered the Compton Effect (a type of scattering of x-rays and gamma rays in matter).  Compton later received the 1927 Nobel Prize in Physics for the work he did in that building.

Another:

I don’t know if I’m allowed to send in an addendum to my VFYW entry, but it’s worth noting that, because of the curious political boundaries in the St. Louis area, the photograph was technically taken in unincorporated St. Louis *County*, Missouri (I checked on the county map).  The art school and some parking lots at the university are in St. Louis City, the undergraduate dorms are in Clayton, and the off-campus administration buildings are mostly in University City.

Another:

This is my college! I frequently study in that room or near those trees and have great memories of this area. It’s amazing how I often see these contests and think that since I’ve never left the country or traveled that much that I would never know the place. Then the contest takes place just a ten-minute walk from my apartment!

The following entry is simply too unique not to award the window book to. Our winner writes:

Could I be the first VFYW contest submitter to stumble across the image while sitting in the exact  room it was taken in?  This window is in the Gingko Reading Room in the main library of my school, Washington University in Saint Louis, where I happen to be sitting right now.  Alas, most of the yellow is gone (see attached), but the image I snapped of the same walkway about a year and a month ago sits as my phone background, a reminder of Midwestern Falls.

What inquisitive soul reads the Daily Dish alongside me?

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.

A reader writes:

Another cruise ship? Are you trying to make sure only retirees win this contest?

Another writes:

Wow – that could be just about anywhere with a deep water port.  I’ll go with San Juan, Puerto Rico.  I doubt I’ll win, but hopefully I’ll at least be closer than my wife (we have a weekly household contest and I’m down by one right now).

Another:

I’ll guess that’s the cruise ship dock at George Town, Grand Cayman. The photo would be from the second floor of the build north and east across Church Street. I haven’t been there in almost ten years, but I think that’s it.

Another:

That’s the Spirit of Tasmania at Station Pier in Port Melbourne, Australia. The window would be in the Beacon Cove development across the road. Williamstown in the background.

Another:

That appears to be the passenger terminal at Xingang Port in China outside Beijing. My partner and I sailed from there on a 15 day cruise around Asia. It’s a huge old building with some art deco flourishes, and is badly in need of renovation.

Another:

It’s a port city. Or to be more precise: taken from inside of a building or a structure, with a window directly facing a port on a sea or an ocean, in an area where the climate is sometimes sunny.

Another:

Completely stumped, especially since I am not cruise-savvy. But I did determine that the ship is the Crystal Serenity – which, unhelpfully, goes all over the world.

I Google-Earthed every almost every port of call.  Most harbors are protected by breakwaters, which I see no evidence of. Many smaller ports have docks to which cruise ships slide up sideways.  Ports in the Caribbean, South Pacific, and Asia did not have sturdy cruise terminals, as pictured.  Best guesses: somewhere in the Mediterranean, Adriatic, or Aegean Seas, per the Grecian balustrade; around coastal UAE cities, since the terminal and bus in front look relatively new; or a port on the Black Sea – cruise terminal looks vaguely Soviet in style.

Time spent investigating (huge amount) vs. ability to make an intelligent guess (negligible) = most out of whack so far.

Another:

Piece of cake: San Francisco.  I will never forget that berth, because its where PlanetOut, Inc. welcomed the Queen Mary II, the world’s largest ocean liner, for a PR luncheon.  That would be the Queen Mary II/RSVP voyage across the frigid North Atlantic, which cost PlanetOut $5 million and consequently sunk the company.

Another:

All right, the fact that I’ve searched every square inch of the Embarcadero and then some in SF, multiple times, and haven’t found this spot, should convince me that the intelligent, face-saving maneuver is to pick a random spot somewhere in the center of the Mediterranean and call it a day. And yet, nothing looks anywhere near as much like San Francisco as this shot. Nobody else builds customs houses like that that I can find. So that’s my choice.

Another:

This is a cruise ship at dock at the foot of Market St in Charleston SC. There is a glimpse of the Custom House at the left of the picture.

Another:

I’m guessing that it is along the European shore of the Bosphorous, just above the Golden Horn in Istanbul – at Beyoglu, near the Istanbul Modern museum and not too far south of the Dolmabahce Palace.

Another:

The ship is the Crystal Serenity, which would seem like a dead giveaway. But man that ship has been EVERYWHERE!  After poking around Google maps on Tenerife and Las Palmas, Canary Islands (the blue sea and mountains in the back made me think I should start there), I finally found a current schedule for the Crystal Serenity that says it left Lisbon on Monday, Nov 22. So I tried the next destination (I’ve been to Lisbon – it is nowhere near clean enough to be this spot): Cadiz, Spain.  The architecture on the  balcony seemed Spanish enough, but I couldn’t find a port that has the parking area so close to the ship’s dock.

When I searched the maps for Casablanca and Agadiz, I also couldn’t find the type of layout this picture indicates.  Finally, I found a picture of this lighthouse in Casablanca. That same lighthouse seems to be in the very far left of the picture.  It looks like it’s the Phare D’El Hank.  But it’s pretty far from the port, and the Mosque Hassan II is in between.  So that could also be the minaret for the mosque, except that minaret is square, and the tower in the picture looks more rounded.

But I couldn’t find any other clues to narrow it down. So that’s my guess.  I’m sure you’ll find someone who has been on that ship and in that port, but this was a fun one – usually I have no clue where to start!

Another:

According to the Crystal Cruise line, the Serenity is currently docked in Gran Canaria. The topography seems to corroborate this, so I’m going with it.  Only concerns: (1) the photo may be old; (2) the Serenity ship has a string of lights attached to from the bridge to the bow and I don’t see that in this picture.

Another:

Looking at cruise ship terminals for a second week in a row has failed to inspire me; please don’t turn next week into a trilogy.  I’m sure I could grind this out – after all, there are only 178 ports of call for the Crystal Serenity – but I just can’t muster the gumption.  Going with my ten-second gut intuition, how about Rome’s port, Civitavecchia?

Another:

So, in what ports were the Crystal Serenity and a small Silversea (Silver Wind or Cloud?) ship together during 2010?  Piraeus on June 18, Venice on June 24, Istanbul on Sept 3, Portoferraio (Elba) on Sept 22.  But none of those ports have that layout of docks/terminals.  Very frustrating.  I think I looked through all the possible ports that these ships had in common (at least in 2010).  Maybe this photo wasn’t taken in 2010? Arrggh.  Oh well, because of the relatively unspoiled coastline, I’ll go for Portoferrario, Elba, Italy.  Good enough for Napoleon, good enough for me.

Another:

It looks to me like the port of Naples (Molo Beverello), Italy from where I take a hydrofoil to Ischia every August. The building on the left would be the old fascist era passenger terminal.

Another:

I initially thought that this was Italy and now after much self-doubt and research I am certain.  This photo was taken looking out from the right side of Starhotels Savoia Excelsior Palace, Riva del Mandracchio 4, 34124 Trieste, Italy.  My fiancee and I began by attempting to decipher names on the cruise ships, the one in the foreground the Crystal Serenity, and the one in the background we guessed as a Silversea vessel.  This only resulted with looking for hours at images of innumerable ports and consequentially, blurred vision.  Finally, we looked to the SAF bus in front of the terminal.  A simple google image search of Trieste’s port retrieved a website that revealed the terminal. Then google maps and youtube were used to find the exact hotel.

Another:

While there were a number of fascinating clues in this week’s “View” (one of which lead me to read the entire Wikipedia entry on “Greek revival architecture”), it was strangely the blue parking lines that tipped me off to the real location. A simple Google search of places with blue parking lines, took me to Italy, which took me to a Google image search for ports in Italy, which lead me here: a shipping tour company based in Trieste, Italy. With a little Google Earth magic, I think I may have found the photographer’s location at the Starhotel Savoia Excelsior Hotel looking out on the Stazione Marittima:

Also, I should mention that I did most of this research on my iPhone on the way to San Diego for a baby shower. Pretty impressive, right??

Another:

I’m getting addicted to this contest.  The license plates on the cars and general feel of the area suggest southern Europe, possibly the Mediterranean.  The ship directly ahead is the Crystal Serenity, which called at a number of Mediterranean and Adriatic ports in 2010.  After some searches on Google Images and confirming the lay of the land on Google Maps, I determined that the port was Trieste.  The attached photo that I found gives the side view from higher ground further away.  The date given for the photo is 22 August 2010 (this is consistent with the published itinerary):

Another:

I was able to figure out the ship’s name from the photograph (having bad handwriting makes it easier to read blurry writing on photographs). Then I basically just perused Flickr bridge cam photos from the Crystal Serenity until I came upon a docked photo that matched the distance from the shot. Then a quick Google Maps check on the Trieste shoreline gave me pictures of the Consorzio Promotrieste, and I was certain that was it.  Here is the link to the bridge cam photo – the blue lined parking spaces in both the VFYW and the bridge cam are also dead giveaways.

Another:

First time entering the contest. Once I was able to decipher the writing on the cruise ship, all I had to do was go through that nice gentleman’s gallery of saved webcam snaps from the ship’s bridge until I stumbled upon something that looked like it could be your window. Then I was able to confirm by finding (courtesy Google maps) a picture of the port looking in the other direction. I also found a link to a time lapse video of the ship arriving in the port on June 12th, 2009:

Another:

This is how well I know that building: because I’ve stood right there on the side of it you can see.  Here‘s a pic of my partner standing on the upper outside terrace; behind him is where the ship is moored in your photo. My mother was born in Trieste, to a family of seafaring captains (and chefs); and here is an article of mine about a collection of 19th-century food trademarks registered there, a reflection of the historic importance of this very port, one Austria’s entrepot.

Another:

The shot is taken from a room in the Starhotel Savoia Excelsior Palace hotel on the Riva del Mandracchio, opposite.  This is the hotel’s website image gallery. Using the facade picture on the hotel’s website, it looks like your photo was taken from one of the fourth floor balconies (counting from ground, first, second). Based on the positions of the street lights and the shape of the balcony, I would say it’s the second balcony/fifth window in from the left, as indicated by the red arrow in this shot of the hotel:

This reader was the first to guess the floor/window, so he gets the prize this week.  See everyone else on Saturday!

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.

A reader writes:

My wife took one look at the picture and thought that it could be Japan, and after a bit of googling it seemed possible (especially considering that the fog may be blocking the more noticeable buildings). So I’m guessing that it is Kobe Port Terminal on Shinko Pier No. 4 in Japan. But I feel like I’m way off, so I fear that this email will be published near the top on Tuesday to demonstrate just how far off some readers’ guesses are.

Another writes:

I remember being in Venice in 2008 and looking from the St. Mark’s square campanile toward the train station end of the city and thinking about how industrial that side of town looked from up there.  I also remember all of the cruise ships coming in and out of the ports in that part of the city. Venice was the first city that came to mind when thinking where a cruise ship would put in, that looks industrial-ish, and has weather that would get fog.

Another:

That’s a pretty big clue given. After quickly checking the Carnival website for destinations and thinking of places that would get fog, I’m just going to wing it and say Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Another:

I’m having trouble seeing through the fog. Carnival goes to Halifax and Saint John.  Between the two I’m going with Saint John.

Another:

As soon as I saw this picture, I recognized the location:

It’s the cruise ship docks in Victoria, BC. The first thing that struck me when I went there in the summer of 2009 was how ugly and out of place that tall building is. I always wondered how British Columbians, who are so proud of the natural scenery of their province, could build such an ugly structure right on the coast.

Another:

That looks like Juneau to me. Visited there in the summer with my son, who’s about to attend UAS Southeast (taking advantage of the school’s low tuition, beautiful location, and interesting math program). We ate pizza in the building in the foreground – best in Juneau, mediocre for the East.

Another:

I see fog and immediately think of Eugene O’Neill.  This vignette could well be the harbor in New London Ct, a setting where  O’Neill  spent  his boyhood overlooking the sea, near his  family cottage, Monte Cristo.  There is an active wailing foghorn, a sound that O’Neill incorporated in many of his plays.

Another:

I don’t have any serious research or knowledge backing this one up, but I figured that since Carnival cruise lines go through Panama City, and this looked similar to the port I had seen while I was there, I’d give it a shot. I don’t have any fancy maps or coordinates to put here, but I’ve got a little story that took place nearby.

I went to see the Bridge of the Americas with a friend while I was visiting Panama, and we came across two fellows standing in the middle of the bridge looking confused, and a little dejected. We struck up a conversation, and they told us they were from Minneapolis, and that they were backpacking through Central America. Someone had apparently told them that they had to come see this bridge, and when they got there, they found that it was very plain, and seemed like a waste of their time. “Yeah, this bridge sucks” one of them said. I asked him if he didn’t think it was cool that this was the only narrow spot connecting North and South America, and therefore an actual “bridge between the Americas” and both of them immediately whipped out their cameras and started snapping pictures furiously. The one who had felt that the bridge sucked said “take a picture of me standing here all ‘oh whatever, it’s just a bridge’ so I can be like ‘actually, it’s the Bridge of the Americas! BOO-YA’ ”

It turns out they hadn’t bothered to buy any guidebooks, do any reading, or talk to anyone from the countries they were visiting, and after they had finished snapping pictures, they told us how boring Central America was and said “let’s go see if we can find some pizza!”

No point to the story, really, but it was an exchange that stuck with me! Now watch it not be Panama.

Not Panama. Another:

I would know that tall building anywhere.  I don’t know what it is, but it is right off I-10 in Mobile, Alabama, right after the Bay Tunnel. I have driven that section of I-10 hundreds of time in my life.

Another:

This was either a really easy one or I didn’t do enough research. I’m betting on Galveston, Texas, where a Carnival Cruise ship has been fogged in more than once, according to news stories I found via Google. The two buildings look a  lot like those I found in photos of Galveston, again via Google. Here‘s the site with the photo that cinched it for me. (I was first going to say Mobile, Alabama, where a Carnival ship also was fogged in. But the buildings in photos of the city I found don’t match up.)

Another:

Yes!  I would have recognized this even without the clue!  This is Galveston Island.  Growing up near Houston, I’ve spent a lot of time on the island.  My husband and I even spent our honeymoon here!  The restaurant with the neon sign in the foreground is the Fisherman’s Wharf.  I’ve dined there many times!  Although not visible in the photo, a highlight of this area is the tall ship Elissa, which is moored and serves as a museum.  In early December, this area hosts its annual Dickens on the Strand Festival.  People dress in Victorian costume, and shop and eat, and it’s a great time!

Another:

A Google image search for “View from cruise ship leaving Galveston” and up came a number of matching photos – this one captures the exact same shot on a sunny day:

Now I’m sure there will be a huge number of correct answers.  I’m afraid no personal, romantic or nostalgic stories. So I can only plea that I was the fellow who narrowly missed out on VFYW #8 – Lausanne, where I managed to take my own photo at the location.

Another:

The neon sign is over a restaurant called Fisherman’s Wharf, where a young Tillman Feritta learned how to run, then take over, restaurants. My family had an early Thanksgiving lunch there yesterday. My kids fed birds off the small dock to the right of the white yacht below. Just barely visible to the lower left is the Elissa, docked where my grandfather ran a business called Gulf Fisheries between the 1950s and ’70s. He bought shrimp from the local shrimpers and packaged them for resale. It’s a neat area and I recommend it to anyone who has never been. Sorry I can’t be more specific.

Another:

To the right is the railroad museum, which used to be the headquarters of the Sante Fe railroad.  My parents met working there.

Another:

My heart actually gave a thud this week.  Of course I recognize it – it’s my hometown.  My father worked for years in a firm almost at the top of the white building in the back.  It’s the Anico building on Moody street.

Another:

When I was in high school I worked in that tall white building, American National Insurance Company. Now I live in the UK.

Another:

I took a cruise from that same pier and watched the beautiful island go by. The tall building, visible quite far to the north on the mainland, houses an insurance company and is wildly out of place on a barrier island of palm trees, live oaks, Victorian architecture, balconies, slow southern accents, pelicans, beaches, and hurricanes. The nearby buildings are on The Strand, the old original business part of town (from when cotton was shipped out before The [ahem] War Between the States); many go back to the 1800s. Galveston rivalled New York as a port until the Great Storm of September, 1900, still the worst natural disaster in US history in terms of loss of life. The tall chimney in the mid-left of the picture stands alone as a part of Strand history.

Another:

The photo reminds me of Edna Ferber’s observation that Galveston has a Miss Havisham quality – it’s ghostly and severely faded, but still somehow alluring. (I miss my sad little hometown. Thanks for featuring it.)

The 20-story tower is the island’s sole “skyscraper,” the corporate headquarters of American National Insurance Co. (ANICO), and many people consider it an eyesore. It does seem out of place, that circa-1970 brutalism looming over all the two-story Victorian office buildings that survived the 1900 hurricane. But the views from inside it are lovely.

Another:

Here’s the same view in reverse, presumably from the American National Insurance building, with the Conquest at the pier.

Another:

Google Maps and the Port of Galveston website helped to find the address of the pier: Terminal 1, 2502 Harborside Drive, Galveston, TX 77550. A quick google of “carnival cruise” and “fog” pulled up a bunch of possibilities in the Gulf of Mexico this year.  I think the ship in question was the Carnival Conquest, which was stranded in Galveston in April 2010.  But I’m sure that you’ll have a reader who can figure out the correct room, deck level, etc.

Correct ship, wrong date. Another:

Long time reader, first time responder. After a few quick google searches for “Carnival cruises” and “fog” it appears that Galveston is a departure point often tripped up by the weather.  I’m going to go out on a limb and say the photo was taken on August 5th, 2010.  According to the Galveston Daily News, fog delayed the Conquest’s return to port that morning, as well as its departure in the afternoon.

Still off with the date. Another:

I’ve never been to Galveston, but I flew into Google Earth and the pieces seemed to fall into place pretty quickly.  In case the clue made this too easy, I’ll try to throw in whatever tiebreakers I can come up with:

1. Attached is a diagram of what I think is the view/photographer’s location.
2. Possible date: this photo could have been taken on either April 5, 2010 or December 14, 2009 – two dates I found in stories about cruise ship delays in Galveston.

Correct on the latter date. Another:

The parking lots you see hold special meaning for me. My cousin and his wife took a lovely cruise from here and while they were gone, Hurricane Ike devastated the island. They were diverted to New Orleans upon the completion of the cruise. Their car, which had been parked there, has never been found.

Another:

Oh man this one’s easy. (You thought the fog would make it hard, didn’t you?) I thought I’d have to do all that Google searching to get one of these right, but I used to work down the street from this dock at the University of Texas Medical Branch.

Here’s a picture of the front of that restaurant (Willie G’s) in the lower left of your picture, taken in October 2008. You can see one of the boats washed up from Hurricane Ike in the parking lot.

Another

We live in Arlington, VA, but 18 years ago we were married in Galveston. Nearby is the Tremont House, where we had our rehearsal dinner before the wedding at the old St. Mary’s Cathedral Basilica, which was severely damaged by Hurricane Ike.

Another:

I was there February 2009 for the first Mardi Gras after Hurricane Ike and went to the restaurant in the foreground. The city had yet to completely clean up from the hurricane, but there had to of been over 10,000 people there and the parade was incredible.

Another:

I was supposed to have a bachelor party down at the harbor on the weekend of Ike. This should have been me:

Another:

I know this view because I returned from a cruise celebrating my cousin’s wedding there just a few weeks ago.

Another:

Lately we’ve had several days of Harry Potter-esque level of fog in the Houston/Galveston area, so my hood was the first spot that came to mind when I saw the photo.  Then the cruise hint was super easy, as my boyfriend and I have been on a cruise from Galveston and are set to leave on another one after Thanksgiving. (He’s one of those cruise gays.  I prefer television.)

Another:

I was just in Galveston this past weekend visiting a friend in medical school. He lives right behind the white building (American National Insurance Company) and you can see the cruise ships in the harbor from his back window. The weather was great the entire weekend. A Carnival cruise ship was docked the entire time I was there.

We need to select a winner, but among the hundred or so correct guessers, no one stands out with a more precise location than all the others. So we’re just going to go with the very first person who wrote in with “Galveston.” He wrote:

No special story – just that my wife and I were there back in August.

Congrats on the quick draw – 10 minutes after the contest went up. We’ll get a window book out to you shortly. Below are a handful of other entertaining emails we received among the hundreds this week.

We don’t need no stinkin’ clues. Well, many of us probably need them, but that doesn’t mean we deserve them. I prefer when the contest sticks to the purely visual, requiring us to think up our own associations before Googling like fools. As I started my search, I tried to pretend I hadn’t read the hints, but who was I kidding? The clues had seeped into my brain and it took all of three minutes to find this place once I gave in to that knowledge. I doubt I would have gotten to Galveston otherwise, but some of your readers would – and I bet more entertaining answers too (missed guesses are certainly part of the fun, especially when people are so sure of themselves).

Another:

You must have gotten a bazillion replies if I could get this right! But it was really fun to figure it out, and I think the easy puzzle this week was a good way for beginners to get better at this game.

Another:

My only previously correct guess was Sarajevo, which I didn’t submit.  Most weeks, I’m content to marvel at the technical exploits of fellow Dish mavens.  This one was a low tech reader’s dream. Simple google search of delayed Carnival departures narrowed the options to Mobile, Tampa, or Galveston (I’m a recent serial comma convert).  Then a simple search for photos of ports led to this, which appears to show the same single white high rise with a single smokestack. Others will have more detailed coordinates, but you warmed the heart of technologically challenged, lazy reader with a view I could easily figure in 3 minutes.  (And I don’t mind not winning since I was one of those who ordered two VFYW books when it launched.)

Another:

This is my first attempt at VYFW contest.  I have a feeling I’m not quite as quick as some of your other readers, but it was a great distraction from being stuck in the office on a Saturday. In addition to wasting time at work, it also had the added benefit of likely putting me on a some terrorist watch list for viewing nearly every Carnival Cruise Line port in the U.S on Google and Bing Maps. Oh well. I would not be shocked if the terrorist threat level is raised in the next couple of days due to several hundred Dish readers searching the Internet for information on ports of call for cruise ships.

Another:

My boyfriend and I have recently created a contest out of your “View From Your Window Contest.” The rules are way too long and complicated, but it works kind of like golf with the winner for each month amassing the least amount of mileage (points). Last week was the first round, and my guess of Buffalo, New York, against his of Rouen, France, left me with a 4,000 mile differential (and about 8 hours of work) to make up.  So I’m hoping this week will put me back in the game a bit. (We get extra points for getting our answer chosen on “The Daily Dish” … wink, wink.)

A clue from the submitter:

It is from a Carnival cruise ship, which was scheduled to leave that afternoon but got caught by fog.

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.

A reader writes:

Let’s see; we have a temperate climate in the Northern Hemisphere, given the trees with changing colors.  The city is densely built up, including some high-rises in the background that look very 1970s style, so I think we can eliminate a lot of Eastern Europe, and the church eliminates almost all of Asia. For some reason, the place just looks like it’s an odd mix of the British Empire and Continental Europe, but with highrises more reminiscent of North America.  The only city in the world that is the perfect blend of Britain, Europe, and North America is Montreal, so I’m going to go with that.

Another:

I’m probably way off but that looks like Harlem on the west side near one of the parks. The graffiti and sheltered balconies look like Williamsburg but the buildings are too high. So I’ll go with 130th street and MLK in Harlem.

Another:

Chicago? At first I saw those steeples and thought, hey, that church looks familiar. Then I looked at the big building in the background with the wide arches on top and I thought, ok, I definitely know that building. Then I blew up the photo and thought I could even spot an orange Bears towel in one of the windows in the foreground apartment building. The graffiti, the cranes, the Eastern-Orthodox church, and the mix of mid-century apartment building architecture seem to fit what I know about the city I’ve been living in for six years.

I’m pretty sure I pass this scene every single day on the “L” going to work (where I spend more time than I should reading the Dish). So I always thought my first email to you would be one with commentary (and I swear I’ll send one someday).

Another:

There is surely enough detail here that someone will get it spot on.

High rise apartments and a number of office towers. So we are talking a major European city.  Gothic church – Catholic.  A mismash of building styles. A number of air conditioning units, so it gets hot in summer.  The trees are turning autumn but still have some green, so southern Europe. My son feels like it is Barcelona, and scanning some Google images it seems consistent. But we couldn’t quite pinpoint it precisely.

Another:

Barcelona!  The steeples of the Sagrada Familia give it away.  It’s the Spanish version of having the Eiffel Tower in the background of the photo.  Viva Espana!

Another:

Somehow the twin spires looked Spanish to me, even though that Gothic style occurs all over. It was probably a mental connection to Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia.  Shiny green roof tile seems connected to Spain or Portugal (when Google-imaged).  Could not find this view anywhere in Spain, however – or anywhere else for that matter.  There’s graffiti all over the world, and I couldn’t decipher it, so language didn’t help.  So, I went with my initial Spanish feeling and chose Madrid.

By the way, I find it curious that when I read the answers to these VFYW contests, I feel almost as successful if my guess is mentioned by other readers (as it usually is – viz last week when I guessed Baja) as if it is actually correct.

Another:

Really, that must be the easiest photo you have done yet for your VFYW contest. At first, I thought you could see the Sagrada Familia, but I guess that is not the case. But, anyhow, ’tis Barcelona.

Another:

This was extra-difficult.  The older, weathered buildings in the foreground, deciduous trees, preponderance of brick buildings, the Gothic church in the middle, and graffiti made me think of a crowded city in the U.S. Northeast, like the upper reaches of Manhattan or the Bronx in New York, but the architecture is slightly different.  So I thought Canada, but couldn’t find anything that matched the density re multi-story residential buildings in Toronto.  There are air-conditioners in the apartments with the jerry-built, enclosed balconies, so it’s a place that can get hot, and is, therefore, not too far north

My next best guess was London.  Checked it and other cities in England, and cities in northern and eastern Europe.   Came back to U.S. east coast and mid-west cities.  With all, most skyscrapers are for businesses not residences. Looked at every Gothic church, it seemed, in Google Images.   Closest spire match: a cathedral in Prague – no help. Google-Imaged every brick building known to man.

Where are they building huge, brick residential high-rises?  China?  Shanghai is incredibly dense and has at least one Gothic church.  Maybe it has more?  It also has hot and humid summers.  Ok, I’ll go with Shanghai.  Runner-up is Melbourne, Australia.

Another:

On Saturday late afternoon I had a chance to open the Dish and look at this week’s VFYW contest, expecting another head scratcher, when instead my first though on seeing this week’s picture was “Oh, that’s Beijing, the Catholic church (St. Michael’s) down not too far from ChongWenMen.  This is going to be easy!”

Ha!  Three days later and I am still not sure what angle the picture was taken from.  At first I thought probably from a room at the Xin-Qiao Hotel (now a Novotel), but that was probably just nostalgia for the days in the early eighties when the Xin Qiao was one of the few places in Beijing to get a cup of coffee and drink it in a heated environment.  Many struggles with Google Earth, and all kinds of searches for pictures of that area of Beijing, and I’m still not sure, but am going to go with some place on Da Hua Rd near Beijing Hospital.

Whatever the case, this contest sure gave me a chance to reminisce and think about how much Beijing has changed since I first knew it as a student almost thirty years ago.

Another:

Oh this is a tough one. At first blush I would have said somewhere in China, but the graffiti on the derelict building in the foreground would seem unlikely in China. Instead, I thought of a big city in eastern Europe, or somewhere like Istanbul or even Tehran. I couldn’t find the Anglican-looking church we see behind the apartment blocks, anywhere. But there are two high rise buildings in Sarajevo with an unusual raised structure at the very top, just like the high rise we can see between the two spires, way off in the distance. Therefore, I am going with Sarajevo, Bosnia.

Another:

Cologne, Germany? The twin spires immediately reminded me of the Cologne Cathedral, which is hard to forget once you’ve seen it. I’m not sure of this guess because the Kölner Dom totally dominates the skyline in Cologne, whereas it looks like there are several other comparably tall buildings in this picture. If it’s not Cologne, though, those spires are remarkably similar.

Another:

Anyone who has ever seen the Dom can guess this one. I’ll bet you’re gonna get a bazillion correct responses.

Another:

I am an American and was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ukraine. I currently work in Kyiv. The architecture of the apartment buildings in the foreground is “Khrushchevki”, built during the time when Nikita Krushchev was leader of the Soviet Union. The building in the background on the right (with two “gentle” arches near the top – in the center and on the left of the building to the right of the crane) is more modern. Construction cranes (one is shown in the center-background) are ubiquitous as of late, even in the wake of the financial meltdown. Here is a photo of the church:

The difference between the two spires – in conjunction with the Soviet architecture – gave it away for me. This made my day!

Another:

This is a view of the towers of the St. Nicholas Roman Catholic Cathedral in Kiev, Ukraine.  (My husband played the organ there in his days as a Soviet organist.) The new construction and chaotic balconies on older buildings look just like the ones we have in Moscow, where we live, but the Catholic cathedral in Moscow is a red brick Gothic building, not a gray one.  So we Google Viewed Catholic churches in Eastern Europe, and this one fit perfectly.

Another:

This picture was taken from a building located on Gorkovo Blvd. or Laboratorna Blvd. (my guess is the latter) in the Pechersk raion (district) of Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. The church with the twin spires on the left is the Roman Catholic St. Nicholas Cathedral (which is currently owned by the city and used as the National House of Organ and Chamber Music of Ukraine). The building with the circular roof right next to the church houses the Kredit Europa Bank.

Another:

This was fun. I just looked at the Wikipedia page for every cathedral in Western Europe before I took a step back.

Another:

Finally! I have been close with no confirmation for weeks now. I was sure this was a view of a neo gothic cathedral, and the enclosed balconies brought my mind to China. You have no idea how many cathedrals there are in China. But after exhausting that list, I simply clicked through the examples listed on Wikipedia of gothic revival architecture in countries that were unlikely to have building code inspection. I’m glad I didn’t give up; Ukraine was at the bottom of the list.

Another:

I usually don’t pay too much attention to the VFYW contests; the pictures are often lovely, but I’m generally hopeless with guessing the answers. But a quick glance at this week’s photo immediately sparked the thought of the buildings I see every time I drive over the Dnepr from the Kyiv airport into the city (I work on HIV prevention programs in Eastern Europe, and go to Ukraine often).

Another:

I believe the address of the building is Gorkogo St 81 Kiev, Ukraine. Bu I can’t find a picture of the actual window because it may be a brand new building!  Here are pictures of it being built.

Another:

Judging by the angles and green roofed building in the courtyard, it appears that the pic was taken from some room in at 14 Laboratorna St. Kiev, Ukraine.

Hoping to do better than just the building I tried various other searches and didn’t come up with much.  I did however find a nice apartment to rent at 15 Laboratorna St.  Only $105 a night for a two-room apartment with just barely a view of 14 Laboratorna St. and St. Noicholas Cathedral.

Another:

Well, the weather has been so good here in Hinsdale, IL (Chicagoland), that I haven’t been interested in spending precious hours indoors participating in this great contest. However, this week is different. I finished raking the leaves yesterday and the weather turned cool and cloudy today. So, I had time to solve this week’s puzzle.

With a great clue (Gothic church), I went hunting in Europe. With the help of Google Earth, I found the location of the photo to be in Kiev, overlooking the St. Nicolas Roman Catholic Cathedral. The address appears to be the corner of Gor’koga and Laboratorna streets (91/14 Gor’koga). I’m going to estimate the floor that the picture was taken is floor 14, to hopefully break any possible ties.

We are suckers for schematics, so the tie goes to this reader:

The cathedral seen in the window view is St. Nicholas Roman Catholic Cathedral, and the long building in front of it apparently houses an Apple Store (iLand Macintosh Co.). And I think I’ve found the exact location of this week’s view: it’s 14 Laboratorna Street. I’ve attached a Google satellite view of the neighborhood shown in the photo.

I wish I had a clever story or personal connection to Kiev that I could share, but I don’t – I just looked up lists of cathedrals by country until I spotted one that had the slightly mis-matched Gothic spires shown in the photo.

Congrats, we will get a Blurb book to you shortly. See everyone else on Saturday!

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.