Do you have a place somewhere in the world where you feel "spiritually" at home even if you have no actual connection to it?

[TheKitchenWitch]

That is the most convoluted thread title, apologies.
But I've had this weird feeling in about 3 places in my life, places which I don't actually have any deep connection to - one was a bar/restaurant, one is a park, and one is a famous historic landmark. I feel such a sense of belonging and peace in each of these places, and I can't at all explain what it is.

Does anyone else have this? Is there a name for it?

Anglesey, Ambleside and Finland. The first two are because of family/holiday connections although no blood ties. Finland I just felt 'right' there.

Poland. I lived there for several years in my early 20s and it immediately felt as if I had come “home”. I found out recently that my great great grandparents were Polish/German, and one of the towns I particularly loved was close to where my great grandfather grew up.

Is it wrong to say any John Lewis store?

Halfway up a mountain named Cadair Idris. It has a lake nearby the top and is named after the giant, Idris, who was seated there (Cadair is chair in Welsh)

Is it wrong to say any John Lewis store?

No

For me it's America, don't care where, I just love it, there's a huge feeling of familiarity about it. I think maybe growing up on American tv and films lol. I just love the smell if that's a weird thing to say! There's a new film out soon called Wildrose and in it she says "I should have been born in America, I'm American!" Which I feel like is me ha. Thankfully my husband is exactly the same!!!

Rhodes. Have stayed in different places all over the island, it just feels like home. I feel more at home there than when I go to Ireland, which is actually where my parents come from.

Porthcurno beach in Cornwall.

Weirdly st home st Tate modern gift shop. I don’t even like their collections. And specifically the gift shop. And the marriage freres in the Marais but then again I do love tea.

New York felt amazeballs as soon as I got there. Glastonbury. I could just sit at the top of the Tor for hours.
Also Hastings but I was born there and it’s since I’ve moved away that I realise how much the place feels like home to me. Which it is but you know what I mean.

Queribus and Peyrepertuse in SW France - both ruined castles. The views are fabulous, the history is fascinating and they feel so gloriously isolated.

Imagining what it might have been like hundreds of years ago to live up there, in the winter gives me the shivers

Oregon.

Once on a railway platform I had a very strong sense that in a past life I died in front of a steam train. I was a child (in the past life) and I could see what I looked like/what I was wearing.

Even now I never go over the yellow line on the platform.

The Isle of Wight. Admittedly I’ve been holidaying there forever but it pulls me back, I dream of the place, feel calm when I’m there and always cry on the ferry on the way home and make dp promise me we’ll be back again soon. We’ve been twice a year for the last few years but it was last summer when I went and I’m starting to get a really strong yearning at the moment.

France for me too.

I think it’s because of the expanse of open space - it’s such a relief from the claustrophobia of where I live.

Edinburgh. I went for the first time in my mid-20’s and just felt like I belonged there.

The Berwyn mountains in Wales.
Fuerteventura.
Guernsey

Not a specific place, but I absolutely love to be by a river. I've lived in London for all of my adult life and I still get excited to go over the Thames. And I'm no fan of the countryside but love to come across a stream or river. On city breaks, I always seek out the river and have been on more touristy boat trips than I care to remember. Amsterdam is my favourite city other than London (yes, yes, I know they are canals).

The Horner Valley, North Somerset.

Rome. I've been a few times and I just feel my best when I'm there.

I feel like this in Flemish and Northern French towns. Standing outside Amiens cathedral and walking along the canal was the closest I've had to a 'been here before' feeling. It's very odd.

Not quite the same but there's a Celtic/ Norse concept of 'thin places' where heaven and earth are at their closest. I'm not particularly woo but There are certainly places that feel like that ( the Dunes at Sossusvlei in Namibia is like this to me).

Bizarrely (or maybe not) Liverpool. I've always felt a real connection with the city and could happily live there.

I also love Jersey, and for buildings St Paul's Cathedral.

By the sea. I can just breathe better when there, calmer, relaxed.

Orlando.

As soon as I touch down, I feel that I'm 'home'.
Although I wouldn't want to live there full time, I would definitely love to have a place there to spend my winters when older.

@SherlockSays just came on here to say that! As soon as the plane touches down I just feel at peace. (And the first time I see Cinderella Castle I cry but that's just me!)