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

Then, we made our way to town to have dinner. We chose Mama's Comfort Food based on the reviews and the shorter queue time. I had the must-try Shepherd's Pie as this is a local food in Scotland. Smart to cook the pie directly in a small bowl. We shared a treacle and date pudding too. It is a best-seller in the restaurant. Really good!

The end of Day 7. Time to walk back to the Airbnb!