Edinburgh: Part 9 - Day 8: Back to Stockholm

Day 8
Here is a summary of what is spent on Day 8.

30/9 Day 8: Flight back to Stockholm

Costs
(A) Food
(1) Breakfast at Cafe Blush - Bagel with scrambled eggs £6.20, Regular mozzarella melt panani £8.75, Cappucino £3.30 each
(2) Lunch at Oink - Pulled hog roast roll (Oinks size) with apple sauce £7.20

The Story

30092023: Today, we fly back to Stockholm. We were both satisfied with our trip and looked forward to going back. This is how our Airbnb looked like. We were allowed to use the kitchen and the garden but we did not have time to do that. I would certainly have if I had time. The apartment was very cosy. Well, the owner lives here. 

For breakfast, we stopped at a random cafe that was opened at 8am. My boyfriend was very hungry so we stopped at the first cafe but we got our food about an hour later. I wished we went further because this cafe charged additional 10% to the amount to pay without informing us. 

We walked into town and enjoyed the walk, took random photos and soon, it was time for lunch. I found a restaurant called Oinks which served some yummy pulled pork in a bun.

This is my pulled pork wth sage and onion stuffing and apple sauce. Really good! The downside is that this place does not have a toilet.

Then, we took the tram back to the airport. We bought a return ticket when we arrived in Edinburgh. 

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Here are the list of places I went. You can click on the link and be directed to the posts immediately. 

Day 1 - Arrived Edinburgh airport

Day 2 - Walking tour, Scotch Whisky Tour Experience, Arthur's Seat

Day 3 - Drive from Edinburgh to Portree

Day 4 - Explore Trotternish Loop (Post 1 and 2) - Fairy Glen, The Quiraing, Kilt Rock, Brother's Point, Old Man of Storr

Day 5 - Explore the other part of Isle of Skye - Fairy Pools, Talisker Distillery, Neist Point Lighthouse

Day 6 - Drive from Portree to Inverness. Stopped at Loch Ness and Eilean Donan Castle.

Day 7 - Drive from Inverness to Edinburgh. Went up Calton Hill

Day 8 - Flight back to Stockholm - this post

I have mentioned some of my expenses in each post and I did have other expenses which are not illustrated in the respective posts. For total and different category of expenses, I will sum it here.  

1) Flight - SEK4011
2) Accommodation (Airbnb) - SEK5231,63 per person

3) Food - SEK4376,06 (my expenses)

4) Car rental - SEK2516,13 per person (5 days)

5) Activities - SEK447,41 per person (entrance fees)

6) Petrol - SEK644,49 per person (3 times pumping)

7) Parking - SEK159,44 per person

Total Cost for the trip SEK17386,16 for 8 days, 7 nights. I was really pleased with this trip! An unforgettable birthday trip for me in beautiful Scotland. 

Edinburgh: Part 8 - Day 7: Drive from Inverness to Edinburgh

Day 7
Here is a summary of what is spent on Day 7.

29/9 Day 7: Drive from Inverness to Edinburgh. Check out from Inverness at 10am. Took a break at Creiff at 12.50pm. Checked in at Airbnb in Edinburgh at 2.20pm. Returned the hired car at 3.30pm. Went up Calton Hill. 

Costs
(A) Food
(1) Breakfast at Simpson Garden Centre - Breakfast with 6 items including toast and brewed coffee £10.99, Scone £3.49
(2) Chocolate drink break at Chocolate Gallery, Creiff - £5 per cup 

(3) Dinner at Mama's Comfort Food, Edinburgh - Shepherd's Pie £12, Soda £2.40, Treacle & date pudding £6.50

(B) Accommodation and car
(1) 1 night at Airbnb at Edinburgh for 2 persons - SEK1225,29 including service fees of SEK183,82
(2) Petrol at WM Morrisons Station - £40.75 (1liter = £1.587)

The Story

29092023: Today, we drive back to Edinburgh. There is a one stop shopping centre that has a restaurant next to the Airbnb that we stayed. It is a 5 minutes walk and lots of locals were there as the breakfast has an attractive price. Plus one gets brewed coffee twice. We were so full and I did not utilise the second time coffee. My boyfriend took latte and he paid the difference between a brewed coffee and a latte. 

After breakfast, we made our way to Edinburgh. We drove on the motorway and stopped at Creiff for a break. There, we had a chocolate drink. Nice to have a warm drink in windy Scotland.

We decided to check into our Airbnb in Edinburgh so that we can leave our luggages in the apartment before returning the hired car. The Airbnb was located in town and we had to drive through the traffic in town to reach Arnold Clark office. Along the way, we pumped in petrol as we had to return the car with a full tank. There were no cheap petrol stations along the way. We had to pump at the most expensive of all - Morrisons! We returned the car without needing to pay any damage fees. Yay! Then, we walked back into town and decided to visit Calton Hill. This is a very small hill and it is easy to get to the top unlike Arthur's Seat. Equally windy but much easier. We thought we could wait to see the sunset but it was so windy and very cold!

The view of Arthur's Seat from Calton Hill.

The Walking Tour guide that we did told us that the Greek-like structure was a national disgrace. I did not think he was serious until I researched about it. 

The National Monument, a commanding neoclassical structure on Calton Hill, stands as a tribute to the fallen Scottish soldiers of the Napoleonic Wars. The plan was to make a replica of the Parthenon in Athens, with each stone being exactly the same size as the originals in Greece. Unfortunately less than half of the £42,000 required was raised in a public appeal, and only 12 columns were finished, leading to the monument’s nickname a ‘National Disgrace’. Source from Edinburgh World Heritage

Edinburgh: Part 7 - Day 6: Drive from Portree to Inverness

Day 6
Here is a summary of what is spent on Day 6.

28/9 Day 6: Drive from Portree to Inverness. Stopped at Eilean Donan Castle and Dores Beach at Loch Ness along the way. Fed Highland cows.

Costs
(A) Food

(1) Lunch at Redburn Cafe and Giftshop - 2 cafe latte, 1 scottish pie, 1 cornish pie for £12.35. Feed cow £1

(2) Dinner at Johnny Foxes, Inverness - Cheese tart £7.25, Fish and chips £15.50, Cullen skink £15.50, Cask ale £4.85, Menebrea alcohol-free £2.95. Total £46.05

(B) Parking fee
(1) Eilean Donan Castle - £3 for 2 hours.

(C) Entrance fee
(1) Eilean Donan Castle - £11 per person

(D) Accommodation

(1) 1 night at Airbnb at Inverness for 2 persons - SEK770,45 including service fees of SEK115,64

The Story
28092023: Today, we check out from our B&B. For my warm breakfast, I had sausages, fried egg and tomatoes. As my portion is small, I got two fried eggs. We bid our host and hostess farewell and drove out of Isle of Skye.

I tried to take a photo of the bridge but it was not easy.

We stopped at Eilean (means 'island' in Gaelic) Donan castle. The castle is about 30 minutes drive from Portree. We had ample of time today. There were many cars in the carpark and there is a limited parking time. Well, the castle is small so there is no need to spend many hours here. One has an option to choose between 2 or 3 hours. We paid for 2-hours parking. We bought the entrance tickets at the ticketing office. There are many castles in Scotland I chose this castle because this is a must-see castle and one of the most beautiful castle in Scotland. I did not want to be 'castled-out'.

Even before entering the castle grounds, the view was amazing! And it is mostly thanks to the brown sea kelps, a kind of seaweed. No photos were allowed inside the castle. We got a view of the kitchen, the main hall, and the bedroom.

Edinburgh: Part 6 - Day 5: Fairy Pools, Neist Point Lighthouse

Day 5

Here is a summary of what is spent on Day 5. 

27/9 Day 5: Fairy Pools, Talisker Distillery, Neist Point Lighthouse

Costs

(A) Food

(1) Lunch at The Old Inn - Beer battered fish and chips £17, Soft drink £1.70, baked sea trout £22

(2) Dinner at Tomita Sushi restaurant - Pork gyoza £7.80, Fried beef udon £18, Chicken teriyaki with steamed rice £18.50, Kirin beer £5.50, and service charge 10% of £4.98. Total £54.78

(B) Parking fee

(1) Fairy Pools - £6 for 14 hours. 

(2) Long time parking at Portree - £2

(C) Petrol at Portree Petrol Station - £32.14 (1liter = £1.549)

The Story

27092023: Second day on Isle of Skye. Today, we drive the other side of the island. It is recommended to have two full days on Isle on Skye to visit and hike the must-see places. 

First, breakfast! Today, I had black pudding and porridge as my hot meal in addition to the yoghurt with granola. My boyfriend chose pancakes. Everything was good! I decided that I need not be so full today as I will not be hiking a lot.

The drive from the Bed and Breakfast to Fairy Pools took us about 40 minutes. Fairy Pools is a series of small waterpools. We spent two hours there and paid so much for parking! Ridiculous that we were expected to be there for 14 hours. Fairy Pools pales in comparison with yesterday's visit on the Trotternish Loop. We walked as long and far as we can and spent 2 hours there. 

One can take the bus here too from Portree. It is not very frequent though - departure from Portree at 10am, 12pm and 5pm. The bus stop is in front of the toilet which is in the car park. 

From the car park, we crossed the road to the other side to walk on a trail leading to the small pools. It was a downwards slope and I was dreading when I have to walk back as it will be an uphill slope. 

Edinburgh: Part 5 - Day 4 Second Half: Kilt Rock, Brother's Point, Old Man of Storr

Day 4 second half

Here is a summary of what is spent on Day 4 Second half of the day. . 

26/9 Day 4 second half: Trotternish Loop - Kilt Rock and Mealt Falls, Rubha nam Brathairean (Brother's Point), Old Man of Storr

Costs

(A) Food

(1) Dinner at Tomita Sushi restaurant - Teriyaki roast duck £10.50, Chicken karaage £7.50, Beef teriyaki with steamed rice £19.50, Chicken katsu curry with steamed rice £18.50, Cola £2.95, Kirin beer £5.50, and service charge 10% of £6.45. Total £70.90

(2) Birthday muffins from Co-op - £3

(B) Parking fee

(1) Kilt Rock and Mealt Falls - £2 for 4 hours

(2) Old Man of Storr - £5 for 6 hours

The Story

26092023: Next stop - Kilt Rock and Mealt Falls. It is a 15 minutes drive here from Quiraing. There was a large parking space and my boyfriend decided to pay the parking fees although I thought that was unnecessary. The parking place was located right next to the view point. This is a waterfall that plunges 55m over Kilt Rock into the ocean. Kilt Rock is named so because the cliff face looks like the pleats of a kilt. There was a crowd here taking photos and videos of the waterfall. We were here for 15 minutes although we paid for 4 hours parking. 

Next - Rubha nam Brathairean (Brother's Point). 10 minutes drive. There is no paid parking space but a small lay-off by the main road where one can park. It is free and can fit about 6 vehicles. It was easy to miss the lay-off as I did not really understand that it was a small parking spot. We spent about 30 minutes here where we walked until we reached the beach. 

According to the notice board, in 2016, a group of paleontology students found about 50 dinosaur footprints dating back 170 million years. Some of the footprints were as big as car tyres. At the time, Isle of Skye was a warm tropical place (I find the word 'warm' hard to believe now... maybe when it is summer?) and dinosaurs made the prints as they walked across the shallow lagoon. 

For a short moment, the rain stopped and the sun appeared. 

Edinburgh: Part 4 - Day 4 First Half: Fairy Glen, The Quiraing

Day 4 first half

Here is a summary of what is spent on Day 4 First half of the day. . 

26/9 Day 4 first half: Trotternish Loop - Fairy Glen, The Quiraing. This is our plan for Trotternish Loop. 

Costs

(1) Parking fee at Fairy Glen - £2 for 2 hours

(2) Parking fee at The Quiraing - £3 for 3 hours

The Story

26092023: Today is my birthday! I woke up feeling so happy that I am able to celebrate my birthday in Isle of Skye, that we have reached here safely and going for a hike today! The weather is as expected cloudy and the skies looked clear! Good weather, maybe? But we were wrong. First, we have our breakfast. The evening before, George, the husband of the pair Carol and George who runs the place, informed us that we have to tick our choices for our warm meal that will be served during breakfast. 

We wrote that we will have breakfast at 8am. When we entered the dining room, the cold breakfast was on our table. Yoghurt, sliced strawberries, mangoes and peaches. We had that first with granola. 

Then, George entered the dining room and asked if we would like scones and toast too. We said yes! We love food. The food was warm and we enjoyed the scones!

Then, our selected hot meals came out. I chose potato scones, egg, tomatoes and bacons. I was gradually beginning to feel full. I had a very full breakfast. Plus I had coffee and a glass of orange juice. Luxury! I am so glad that I had a full breakfast because I did not feel hungry when I hiked in the rain and the strong wind. I had lots of energy inside me to continue the day. 

Here are som jam choices to have with toast. 

There is a mini fridge in the dining room. We did not use it. A small coffee maker on the right.

This is the piece of paper where we picked our hot breakfast. My boyfriend ticked pancakes for the next day. 

Here is our room with the king-size bed. It was spacious and there was a coffee maker in the room, so we brewed coffee and poured into our thermos. Good thing I brought a thermos to Edinburgh. I thought that I will need hot water with the rainy weather or maybe lemon and ginger drink if I fall sick. Who knew it will come in handy for hot coffee!

Edinburgh: Part 3 - Day 3: Drive from Edinburgh to Portree

Day 3

Here is a summary of what is spent on Day 3.

25/9 Day 3: Drive from Edinburgh to Portree. Stop at Loch Lomond and Glencoe. Check in to B&B

Costs

(A) Transport and accommodation

(1) 5 day car rental from Arnold Clark Rental - SEK5 032,26

(2) Petrol at Glencoe @ £1.549 per liter - £20.51 (13.24 liter)

(3) 3 nights at The Braes Bed and Breakfast for 2 persons - SEK5359,83 including service fees of SEK804

(B) Food

(1) Breakfast at Printworks Coffee cafe - Breakfast roll with smoked bacon £3.40, cappucino £3.70 

(2) Lunch at Glencoe Inn - Chicken skewer £14, schweppes ginger beer £2

(3) Dinner at Fish & Chips - Fish and chips £10.50

(4) Snacks from Co-op for hiking - £5.15

(5) Beer at Portree Hotel - £10.10

The Story

25092023: Today, we collect our rented car from Arnold Clark! Excited that we will be driving from Edinburgh to Portree. We were nervous initially but I got over it as my boyfriend was worried on driving on the left side. Since I have more experience than him in driving on the left side (Malaysians drive on the left side), I thought I should have no reason to be worried. I was slightly worried though because I have a Swedish driving license now and I have not driven on the left side for quite sometime. 

First, breakfast! We found a cafe that was opened at 7.30am. Lucky for us. I was very surprised that my morning roll was so small. Good thing we are not doing much physical activity today. I think this cafe is expensive as the cappucino here costs more than the one we had yesterday at Hobz Cafe (£2.95). 

After breakfast, we walked to the car rental. Coincidentally, the Airbnb that I booked in Leith was located near the car rental which is located on Seafield Street. It is a 30-minutes walk. Initially, we looked at car rentals from Hertz or Sixt but realised that they were costly. So, I did a research on car rentals in Edinburgh and got a website on Arnold Clark with good feedback that it was cheap. I saw many hired cars from Arnold Clark during our drive so I was quite certain that we made the right choice. 

This is the car that we got - a Toyota CRV. There were no options available for automatic small cars so I chose the next size - compact. I read that the roads were narrow and there are no motorways. The only motorway in Scotland is from Edinburgh to Glasgow. I was beginning to wonder if Scotland was a developed country.  

I drove out from Arnold Clark and I was prepared to drive the whole way but at Loch Lomond where we stopped for a break, my boyfriend said that he was ready to drive without hesitation. Yahoo! We spent an hour at Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park. The staff suggested that we take a walk to Balloch Castle, see a loch (lake) and then walk back to the car park. The castle was closed but there is a free public toilet inside.