(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.)
Some quick housekeeping from the Berkeley super-champ:
Que lastima, Chris! There’s been another instance of window submission misidentification, possibly on par with the lamented Chefchaouen scandal. As happened with that window, the balcony in Kinshasa that was given the official nod can’t possibly be the right one:
The Kinshasa picture was snapped by the submitter’s offspring, and the submitter wasn’t present to witness that snapping, so this may be a simple case of miscommunication.
I have always defaulted to the photo submitters, but I might have to start taking Giuseppe’s guesses as gospel. Speaking of super-champs, a noob is confused:
I’m a somewhat new reader and keep hearing about Chini. Who the heck is this person? Have you ever written a profile, or is Chini’s identity under strict secrecy due to involvement in the NSA? Clearly she or he must have access to some super-secret government tools that can locate Everything, Everywhere, all in no time at all. It’s scary impressive.
A decade ago — damn we’re getting old! — Chini answered questions from readers and gave us a sense of the man, the myth, the legend.
On to this week’s view, here’s a “first-time guesser, long-time assessor”:
While I have no certainty this is Maine, it certainly feels somewhat locationally adjacent to an area of the U.S. I know well: the Adirondacks. It would be nice to see an ADK VFYW entry one of these days! So much interesting trivia to be shared if/when that happens.
VFYW candidates are always appreciated — just don’t forget to include part of the window frame, and horizontal photos are ideal: contest@andrewsullivan.com. Here’s a candidate from our UWS super-sleuth from NYC:
When I saw this view, I immediately thought: West Virginia, probably only because I made dozens of trips there for a client in Charleston. Some of the background trees made me reconsider (it looks NW USA to me), but there’s that pine in the foreground that seems to be an East Coast growth. Not that I’m to be trusted on all (or any) things botany.
Meanwhile, I’m many miles away from home: in glorious Sicily. How’s this for a view from the terrace of the apartment we’re renting in Taormina?
That’s Etna in the background: an active volcano that we’re hoping minds its manners at least for another week.
From another regular sleuth:
I started by thinking a clue this week might be your Airstream trip to Brunswick, Maryland. The window looks like it could be in the rural Northeast — near the mountains, but not in them. Could also be in the Midwest. Looks like America for sure.
The photograph is cleverly taken. For example, the day is overcast, with no discernible shadows indicating compass direction. The size of the parking lot trees suggests this is new construction. The flat overhang makes me think probably a hotel, although it could be a school or hospital? The avocado green building in the right-middle distance looks like a business.
For a minute, I thought I had it with the Holiday Inn Express & Suites in Brunswick. It’s new construction. There’s even a liquor store diagonally in the correct arrangement. But the street view tells me that no, this is not the place.
The license plate on the grey Honda(?) at far right — maybe it’s green? Could be Vermont. There’s a rainbow flag in the window of the business on the corner. Could this be a bookshop? Searching “lgbt bookstore Vermont” did not help.
Then I got up the next morning and thought, “Too many trashcans. That’s not a bookshop. It’s a bar." Searched “gay bar Vermont.” If the match is there, I didn’t recognize it. Also tried “gay bar near Brunswick, Maryland.” Nope.
I’m out of time, so I’ll just say Bethel, Vermont.
A new sleuth:
Somewhere in the Catskills. Did I win?
Nope. Another:
Limiting my search to places I’ve been, I’ll say either Ithaca, NY, or Dubuque, IA. Both areas have lots of green foliage and bluffs/hills similar to what’s displayed in the photo. I spent a little time trying out Google Street View searches of both areas, but I’m not as experienced in this sleuthing as your regular respondents.
The tiebreaker for me was the roofs with steep pitches. Of course it still snows in Dubuque, but not in the way it does in Ithaca! Thus, I’m going with Ithaca as my final answer — and forbid myself from spending any more time on Street View rabbit holes.
Chini circles the spot — it’s definitely not Dubuque:
The super-champ also provides a clue:
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