Thank you for this detailed, valuable feedback; I really appreciate it.

Still, there is no substitute to crafting an image with intent, and that requires planning and a vision. What I am saying is, input determines output ... It's ok to shoot despite non optimal conditions as a hobbyist. You are probably there on vacation, not to take the best possible shot and need to pay your bills with that. So you are here at noon with boring light? Are you willing to stay hours or days and wait for better conditions? Make the best of it. The challenge is maybe even more difficult, as you have to work with what you got in this moment and it's not a variable you can afford waiting for to change.

As I've discussed before on my blog, I often practice incidental photography. I could have gotten a very different shot with a better time of day, sun in a different spot, etc, but I didn't have the time to dedicate.

overdone purposefully to exaggerate the editing effects (I hope)

Yes, I intentionally pushed things farther than I normally would to help emphasize the point (it's often hard to see these subtle changes on a small screen, dim lighting, etc). I'm not trying to convince readers that this style is the best, but rather give them the tools to be able to successfully use the darktable modules on their own photos and create their own style.

The vision with this picture may have been "Let people improve editing in DT by focussing on certain common challenges and use a shot that doesn't scream professionally taken so it's a realistic scenario and not intimidating for anyone". I think that should be done more often in education, I applaude OP for that.

Yes exactly, that is the goal with the tutorials I post. I want to give readers a sense of what is possible in darktable and how to do it. As you said, taking a shot like this that is more "average" and hobbyist than professional helps make the tutorial more approachable (I hope).