jak to powiedziec... nic tam nie ma.. ale w pewnym sensie jest wszystko czego duszy potrzeba...
wizyta w john O'Groats byla dosc spontaniczna, w skrocie tylko powiem ze tak w ogole to mialysmy leciec do rzymu, ale to co przekonalo nas by pojechac jednak na daleka polnoc szkocji to byla.. POGODA.
a ona byla piekna, wspaniala szczegolnie jak na zimowe warunki... prawde mowiac bylo duzo cieplej niz kw oncu kwietnia na hebrydach zewnetrznych :) prawde mowiac, pomijajac wiatr, pogoda byla majowa :)
john O'Groats (jadac od poludnia A99) wita kierowcow znakiem 'witaj w john O'Groats, tam gdzie konczy sie droga'. owszem, konczy sie I droga I generalnie wszystko sie skonczylo, bo dalej na polnoc sa orkneje, dzieli je od johna dokladnie 8 mil morza.
pierwsze wrazenie jakie john na mnie wywarl to 'odludzie', 'plasko', 'spokojnie', 'klimatycznie'. niby nic, ale miejsce zdaje sie miec jakis pelny spokoju klimacik.
mnie bardzo podbilo kiedy wieczorem patrzac na polnoc, na horyzoncie widzialam tylko ciemne zarysy wysp nalezacych do orknejow I niezliczona liczbe latarni morskich na nich...
my dojechalysmy do johna wczesnym popoludniem, 1 stycznia, bez wczesniejszej rezerwacji noclegu I generalnie na 'sponton'. nie wpadlysmy na to ze rzeczywiscie tam nic nie ma. a to co jest, jest albo zamkniete na nowy rok, albo otwarte tylko w sezonie (wielkanoc -wrzesien). z noclegiem, przyznam, byl problem. mialysmy tylko dwie opcje w sumie, albo spac w 'seaview hotel' (rudera nieco I niby czynna, ale pozamykana na 4 spusty, cena za pokoj 80f) albo w natural retreats (wypas!, cena za pokoj 90f). wiadomo jak sie skonczylo :) w koncu to nasz swiateczny prezent dla nas samych mial byc :)
niestety najblizszy pab, oddalony o 7 mil tez byl zamkniety wiec obiad okazal sie chlebem z drzemem :)
a propos, na powitanie dostalysmy od szefowej hotelu torbe z zarelkiem (swietne wyczucie czasu!) ziernisty chleb, domowej roboty drzem sliwkowy (mniam!!), lokalnie robione ciasteczka owsiane, butelka wina (juz nie lokalna) hotel polecam bardzo, nie dosc ze swietny standard to wszystkiemu dodal blasku widok z okna - wprost na morze I orkneje. ahhh :)
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what should I say... there is nothing.... but somehow there is EVERYTHING that the soul needs...
our visit to john O'Groats was very spontaneous (as usual), to cut the story short: we were planning on flying to rome, but what really made us choose john rather than rome was... the WEATHER.
and the weather was amazing, really good, especially as this was January.. and to be honest it was much colder when we visited outer Hebrides in late april. disregarding the wind, weather was brilliant!
when entering john O'Groats from south (A99) we were greeted by a signpost 'welcome to john O'Groats.. where the road ends'... so true!
not even the road, everything seems to be ending there, further ahead are only Orkneys (and shetlands), Orkneys exactly 8 miles away.
first impressions on john: 'remote' , 'flat', 'peaceful', 'atmospheric'
somehow the place seems to have a peaceful ambiance
I really loved when, in the evening, looking north, all we could see were silhouettes of Orkney islands and dozens of lighthouses along the horizon. very special thing, believe me.
we arrived to john in the early afternoon, 1 January. no reservations, no accommodation booked. I never thought it will be so difficult to find the accommodation there. there isn't much of the hotels and b&b anyway. but what IS there, was either closed for Christmas & new year, or closed till easter (high season starts from easter and lasts till September). there was a great problem with the accommodation, at one point I actually got wee bit stressed that we will have to sleep in the car :)
finally we managed to find two options: 'seaview hotel' -scabby building, apparently open but still closed with no view to anyone taking care of it (£80 per room) or try natural retreats hotel and convince them to take us for 1 night only (they book for at least 3 nights), superb castle-like building, luxurious and £90 per room.
guess what we chose? the trip was our Christmas pressie to ourselves anyway, so we decided to treat our good selves :)
unfortunately, closest pub was 7 miles away.. and closed anyway (as we found out when got there) so we were left without much food, with no dinner anyway! luckily we got a hamper from a hotel and so for our dinner we enjoyed artisan bread, home made plum jam, local oatcakes and a bottle of red (not locally produced, shame...! lol)
I do recommend the natural retreats hotel, great location, just at the sea with brilliant views to Orkneys and dozens of lighthouses.. everywhere you look.
natural retreats hotel, john O'Groats
nastepnego ranka, na przekor temu co mowili tubylcy, zaswiecilo slonce! I niech mnie, ale piekny zimowy wschod slonca 'u johna' zlapal mnie za serce I strasznie ucieszyl :)
next morning, against all odds and local's forecasts, sun came out beautifully and made such a show when rising!
daleko od domu.. ale wciaz jakby w domu..... / so far from home... but still, somehow AT home
natural retreats
cdn / tbc
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