VFYW: Easily Pulleyed In

Only non-red herrings for contest #383. And lots of personal stories.

(For the View From Your Window contest, the results below exceed the content limit for Substack’s email service, so to ensure that you see the full results, click the headline above.)

From last week’s winner:

Wow, thanks! While I need more “things” like another hole in the head, I also really value all the hard work that you and Andrew put into everything you do, and I’d much rather continue to support your work by subscribing, year in and year out. So the VFYW book it is!

I’d like to say it was skill that got me the prize, but we all know that had nothing to do with it. I figured that if I just kept submitting correct answers, even if they were only for the easiest windows, all the sleuths who are really good at this would eventually win and become ineligible, and I’d bubble to the top of the list sooner or later.

From the self-described wine geek in San Fran:

The last six weeks have been a blur of travel (visiting mom in Hawaii) and moving (still in San Francisco), which has cut into my VFYW sleuthing time. Most weeks, I study the photo for a bit and come to an initial conclusion about where it might be — but then stop.

Last week, though, I initially concluded that the city in the background was Cebu and that the photo had to have been taken from one of the resorts on the east side of Mactan Island in Lapu-Lapu. Why did I think that? Because I’ve been there.

So what did I do? I consulted with my beautiful bride, who happens to have been born and raised in Lapu-Lapu. And when I say beautiful, it’s not just my bias speakin: she freaking won the Miss Lapu-Lapu beauty pageant when she was 19! So I showed her the photo and said, “Isn’t that Cebu in the background? Do you recognize the weird building in the foreground? Can you read any of those signs?” … eagerly awaiting confirmation that I was right.

She studied the photo for a bit and then said, “No, we don’t have that in Lapu-Lapu.” I was crushed. I told her later that the photo was taken from the Jpark resort and she said, “Huh, that’s the only one I haven’t been to.” Just my luck.

We have been back to Lapu-Lapu a few times and have stayed at a number of other resorts just up the coast from the Jpark (Crimson, Shangri-La, Movenpick), so I’ve probably driven by the Jpark more than once. But one of my favorite Lapu-Lapu things to do is to attend the Kadaugan sa Mactan, a food festival that takes place at the Mactan Shrine where the statue of Lapu Lapu himself is located and where the story of his victory over Magellan is depicted. All the local hotels and restaurants set up food booths, so you can wander around and stuff your face for hours. Maybe our super-chef will have an opportunity to partake some day.

Anyway, here’s me at the statue trying to look warrior-like:

Great photo! But no offense, wine geek: I think everyone would rather see Miss Lapu-Lapu. So here’s a portrait of the lovely couple from contest #324 in Vegas:

On to this week’s view, after three especially challenging views in a row, I went with a much easier one as promised. From the “mediocre super-sleuth in NYC”:

This feels like one of the easiest views, maybe ever. I predict at least 107 people will get the city. 

Not quite, but not terribly off. Another sleuth:

I’m sure you’ll get a lot of Netherlands guesses this week because of the canal and the bikes. I was thrown off, however, by the palm trees. It turns out that some Northern European countries have mini-palm trees that can survive the cold winters. Who knew? According to this site, “Trachycarpus Fortunei, Trachycarpus Wagnerianus and Chamaerops Humilis (European Miniature Palm), because they are highly frost-resistant, can easily tolerate 10-13 degrees below zero.”

Then I looked at the license plates on the cars: yellow with black writing. I googled which countries have that design scheme and the answers were Gibraltar, Great Britain and Luxembourg. I found out that Luxembourg has canals and, I’m assuming, the same palm trees … hence my guess of Luxembourg City. I have never been there and know nothing about that city or country, but it looks beautiful in the photo! Thanks for another fun excuse for me to do some lazy guessing :)

Another sleuth is even lazier, guessing simply “Copenhagen, Denmark.” Another is even more concise: “Rotterdam?” Another goes with Belgium:

Bicycles. Well-established biking lanes. People walking. Minimal cars. Definitely Europe.

I could spend the next two hours figuring it out, but summer Fridays in Michigan are scarce, so I’m going with the first city that popped into my brain: Bruges. Second thought was Luxembourg, but given that I couldn’t even get the spelling correctly at first, I’ll stick with the long shot.

The super-sleuth in Kingston settles on the right country:

I took one look — canal, trams, bikes — and thought of the Netherlands. There is also the sign indicating a coin-op parking area. That seems to be from Holland as well, though it may be used in other EU countries. The street lamps are distinctive, but a search proved fruitless. Then I noticed the pet crates suspended over the street:

Huh, a doggy gondola maybe? I see the cables terminate outside of apartment windows. So I am thinking: Perhaps this is for divorced couples who have joint custody of the pets? They can transport Rover to the ex without having to interact.

We have been to Amsterdam, and this photo does not seem to have that vibe, so I will say The Hague.

Another entry for that city:

This could be one of many Dutch cities, but I’ll guess Den Haag because of the scale of the buildings across the canal, and because I lived there for a year and loved it. If I’m right about where this is, it isn’t far from the Noordeinde Palace — the working palace of the Dutch monarchy. My apartment overlooked its stables.

A sleuth in Chicago goes for another city:

The Dutch bikes, the canal, and the partially obscured Heineken sign would likely indicate the Netherlands. But where? Seems a bit provincial for the big city of Amsterdam, and it’s doubtful that the Dish would make it that easy. Based on a cursory review of Google images, I’ll say Haarlem.

Here’s the aerial view from Chini:

A first-time sleuth in Austin names the right city: