Land’s End

What is it about remote spots that compel me to visit them? Southernmost, westernmost, northeasternmost…. I am drawn to them all. When we were in Portugal two years ago, I just knew that the southwesternmost tip of Europe would be wild and exciting. It was. The photo in the header on my homepage was taken from Cabo de São Vicente, looking up the west coast of Europe. Fantastic!

When I started researching Scotland, I read about John o’ Groats, the northernmost town on the mainland of Scotland – well, on Great Britain, for that matter. I wanted to go. I read about the cold, desolate landscape, the sparse population. Yes! A friend told us of visiting the area and staying in a friend’s castle. He said he was so cold in summer, he had to pull the rug up off the floor and wrap himself in it to stay warm at night. Yes! Yes!

But wait! There are also the Orkney Islands off of the northern coast of Scotland. And then the Shetland Islands are even farther north than the Orkneys, and they have those wild ponies. But then I read that the ferry from John o’ Groats was a bit rough after July. And a woman (hi, Shannon!) we met on Skye had just been and confirmed it. Never mind. I don’t want to see the islands that badly.

So we had the opportunity to see the southwesternmost point of England – Land’s End in Cornwall. That will have to satisfy me. There’s something about that suffix “-most”….