Almost 100 Local Guides took part in our 5-week challenge, making it hard for us to select the best of the best—your stories touched, inspired, and entertained us. Today, we want to shine the spotlight on three more participants who consistently showed their love for helping others through Google Maps and the Local Guides program in their challenge submissions. They brought (and continue to bring) quality to Connect and the map. Read on to find who they are.
** @AdamGT took part in all five challenges**
In all five challenges, @AdamGT amazed us with his stories. Both his words and photos painted vivid pictures of adventures and admirable Local Guides deeds. With his Photography entry, he introduced us to the Uchisar Castle in Turkey, the perfect spot for “catching the stunning Cappadocia sunset over the Uchisar Valley.” To show us just how high the castle is, Adam pointed to a few interesting details in his “star photo,” which you can see here.
For the second challenge, Adam decided to go for a separate post that offered us breathtaking scenes from “the top of the world”–Norway and its North Cape. We also loved his honest review with a helpful explanation on how to reach the cape.
The restaurant we learned about in his restaurant challenge entry is RACV City Club Bistro in Melbourne. Adam enjoyed a delicious lunch in a chic atmosphere and got the chance to be the first to review the place on Maps.
It turned out that the RACV City Club boasts a billiards room as well that operates as a separate business. “I fell in love with this place as soon as I walked in the door! […] It was really a great pleasure supporting this place, which has been closed for an extensive period over the past 12 months,” Adam said after adding it on Maps and leaving a review. How awesome is that?
Finally, in his post for the Meet-ups challenge, Adam told us about his favorite Australia Day Photowalk and Art Crawl. Meeting host @PaulPavlinovich and other like-minded Local Guides, properly experiencing local spots, and supporting several small businesses along the way are just some of his highlights. Find out more in his post.
Thanks for setting a great example to follow, Adam!
** @jayasimha78 took part in four challenges**
One of @jayasimha78 's strengths is his photography skills. He joined the Photography challenge with a gorgeous backyard photo that showcased the beauty of the Quinlan Community Center in Cupertino, USA. He mesmerized us again with images of hiking paths and views of San Francisco from the Buena Vista Park in his post for the Travel challenge. His review also provides info for parents, dog owners, and folks looking for a peaceful stroll.
The mouthwatering pictures of pizzas, burgers, and French toast were only the appetizer in his Food & Drink entry. For the main course and dessert, he served us an informative review of the Starbelly restaurant, with details about the seating, COVID-19 measures, menu variety, and parking options. We loved the bit about the “two gender-neutral restrooms, which were clean and well-maintained,” too.
In the last challenge, Jay showed his love for the #StateChallenge meet-ups by @Denise_Barlock and @Kwiksatik . “[The series] has enabled me to make friends with several Local Guides, including Connect Moderators,” he said. Even though he has written many fun posts for the challenges, participated in almost all of them, and even co-hosted some, the Gujarat #WorldChallenge meet-up has a special place in his heart. Find out why in his entry.
Jay, your contributions are amazing, and they help folks everywhere, every day!
** @LaloPadilla took part in three challenges**
@LaloPadilla started the challenge with an amazing aerial photo of La Mexicana Skatepark in Mexico City. From the very beginning, he showed that paying attention to detail is one of the things he’s great at. While describing his photo, he mentioned all the facilities the park has: skateboard ramps, a pool, a cycling path, “and if you look closely, you [can] see that there’s an orange mesh so kids [don’t] enter the playground due to COVID-19 restrictions.”
For the restaurant review challenge, Lalo did it again. He not only shared a review and a helpful 360 photo of his favorite burger restaurant, BBQ Brothers, but also mentioned how he went to pick up his order so he could take a photo of the quirky decoration. Find out which sign on the wall makes Lalo laugh every time here.
The last challenge he participated in was Local Stories, where he told us how he added the newest location of BBQ Brothers To Go after looking up all the information on their social media page.
Thanks for being such a supportive and meticulous Local Guide, Lalo!
Congratulations to Adam, Jayasimha, and Lalo! If you’d like to see more challenges like this, let us know in the comments below.
very happy.
and as each week went by, I kept wondering why 
The answer was simple! The entries were extraordinary!!!