My Heart Soars: 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.

We continued our drive towards Loch Ness. Along the way, we stopped for lunch at a random cafe which offered feeding Highland cows. What a coincidence! I have been trying to catch a glimpse of the Highland cows. The Redburn cafe. It is easy to miss the place if the signboard is not set out. I had a Scottish pie which was sufficiently filling. The price was not stated on the display or on the menu.

Across the road, we met the Highland cows. The cafe's owner sold cow feed. The cows belong to her friend. She informed that the cows do not produce much milk. They are breeded to maintain their breed. One just had to stand at the gate and the cows will come running to you. I am sure the cows were familiar with this routine because the cows came towards us even before we reached the gate.

We were informed that Martha, the cow with the matured horns is the bossy cow and will try to eat everything.

I was nervous about feeding the cows. They were very slobbery and their teeth is not sharp at all!

We continued the drive towards Loch Ness. We reached Loch Ness and had planned to stop at Donovan castle parking lot but a sign was there that states that the parking lot was fully occupied. We found a parking lot opposite a camping spot (Loch Ness Bay Camping) but we could not find a trail to take a dip in Loch Ness. It was a very muddy trail and I researched again. There was a beach where we could take a dip. Well, not me. My boyfriend wanted to take a dip.

Loch Ness - just a giant lake.

We found this beach - Dores Beach and there was a parking lot for the beach. It was less than 5 minutes walk to the beach. There is a private parking spot which is right in front of the beach but it was for the customers to a restaurant who manages the beach. My boyfriend took his dip and he was very proud of that. It was cold in the waters but bearable. I mean, if you are from Sweden, the temperature is reasonable. No, I did not see any monster.

From Dores Beach, it was about 20 minutes to our Airbnb in Inverness. We were surprised that our accommodation was fully-carpeted and we could even walk inside with our shoes. It was a lovely room but it was quite noisy at night as our room was facing the main road.

The Airbnb was located about a 40-minutes walk into town. Many restaurants were booked or required reservations, but we were lucky to find a pub. Pubs are awesome. No reservations required. Initially, the waitress told us that we could enjoy our meal and once we have finished our meal, she collected our plates and said that we could sit and enjoy. 5 minutes later, she came back and requested that she needed the table in 10 minutes' time. I was confused. So, my boyfriend initially wanted to tip the waitress and I said no.