Car rental in Scotland is much more expensive than Spain was. I started searching months ago, and the best price I could get for a one month rental was £578 ($1,071 CAD, $782 USD).
I had booked the smallest and cheapest car available, but when I got there, they said they didn't have that size available so I would get a free upgrade. Not that I wanted an upgrade, because they usually use more fuel. I wanted something fuel efficient.
Well it turns out I got the upgrade, as well as fuel efficiency... with a brand spanking new MG ZS Hybrid+!
Yes, it only had 9 miles on the clock.
And it gets 55 mpg!
It's definitely a little bigger in size though.
Definitely a little different to drive... with its combination fuel/electric motors that seamlessly kick in and out of each other. Usually I can just hop in and drive something, but I actually took ten minutes to get myself familiar with things before setting out. (I actually had to download the owners manual to figure some things out!)
Back at the house, I picked up Ruth and our bags and we set off to do some exploring between Edinburgh and our next destination, Glasgow.
First stop was The Kelpies...
A kelpie is a mythical Scottish water horse.
The sculptures were built in 2013.
Each one is 30 meters (98 feet) high.
Doh! This canal boat needs more than a bailing bucket!
They are made of stainless steel.
They also have lots of park space and walking areas along the canals...
Made with bicycle parts.
Ruth and a unicorn.
Flying owl.
Really impressive stuff... as was our next stop at the Falkirk Wheel...
There are miles of canals up here.
The Forth & Clyde and Union Canal system was built between 1755 and 1780. The two canal systems were connected by 11 locks that took a full day for boaters to navigate. But in 2002, a new system was built... the world's one and only circular boat lift that reduced the navigation time from 11 hours... to only 15 minutes!
I took a video for you...
The Falkirk wheel in operation.
You can see a boat in the lower section.
The boat is now almost at the top.
The top section of the upper canal where the lift meets it.
The boat exiting the lift.
And it is on its way!
Really phenomenal engineering!
I thought it would be fun to rent a canal boat and explore that way for a couple of weeks... until I checked the prices. A two person boat rental for 10 days is £2,000 ($3,700 CAD, $2,700 USD)! And you still have to supply your own food. Compare that to our upcoming 16 day cruise for the equivalent of £1,600 ($3,000 CAD, $2,200 USD) where food is included and we get to go to Greenland, and it's pretty easy to see the cruise is much better value. Of course I realize that it's really apples and oranges because they are two completely different experiences.
Mom with her little ones.
From there, we drove to the outskirts of Glasgow. Our friends David and Mirsie live here, but they are currently in France and we're really disappointed to not see them... however they offered us the use of their apartment until they return in mid August.
This is where they live!
It's an old Scottish manor house that has been renovated and turned into apartments. Pretty cool!
Gotta go... surprise meet up with Helen and Tony! They are up here with their motorhome and are going to visit us at our next house sit, but our paths are crossing sooner than expected and we are only 23 miles away!
That Falkirk lift is WOW. I may not comment often, but I so enjoy your travels.
ReplyDeleteHi Sandy, it is good to hear from you, we hope you are doing well.
DeleteYes, it really was quite a sight to see and it is the only one in the world! We have seen another lock in Ontario, Canada that was a little different called a lift lock, it was also quite different. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peterborough_Lift_Lock
If in Dundee check out the Discovery it is a big ship
ReplyDeleteIf we stop in at Dundee we will try to see the Discovery ship but I doubt that we will do a tour of it, like most things they are charging quite a bit to visit it especially when it gets converted into Canadian dollars, plus the fact that we have toured a number of different old ships in the past. Thanks for the suggestion though.
DeleteSaw the wheel and rode the lift in ‘99. Really cool! Saw it again and the Kelpies in ‘15 with my granddaughter. Love Scotland, even the weather!
ReplyDeleteIn ‘99 we stayed with my husband’s cousin southwest of Fort William. In mid-June it was warmer outside than in!!!
They have a peat fireplace for heat and wear layers. I was glad I brought leggings and a tank top and wore them most of the time!
I think maybe you have the dates for you first visit a little off, the wheel didn't open until 2002 but I bet that must have been something to see back then, probably not nearly the tourists that are there these days. Even when you visited with your granddaughter in 2015 would have been a less crowded visit. Apparently tourism has ballooned here in Scotland since Covid.
DeleteBoth the Falkirk Wheel and the Kelpies were lovely to see. Seeing the wheel working was quite something to see. The engineering that went into it is something else.
We are fining the same thing in the old manor house that we are staying in, it is warmer outside than it is inside and we are wearing layers as well. So far the weather has actually been a little better than what we were expecting.
I really like those Kelpies. Your pic from the base looking up is a cool shot!
ReplyDeleteWe liked them two, they were beautiful! I have seen pictures of them lit up at night and they look amazing but unfortunately we won't be able to experience that.
DeleteThe Kelpie statues are AWESOME! And I love the owl made out of wood. Great creativity there!
ReplyDeleteThe Kelpies certainly were amazing to see. It always amazes us how the artist can visualize the idea and then create something so beautiful.
DeleteThe owl was really well done, we also loved the unicorn, so much imagination goes into these creations.
Nice photos. I think this is my third or fourth picture of the Kelpie statues from reading other travel blogs. It never gets old.
ReplyDeleteThank you! Yes, the Keplies are a great photo op. I think the first time I saw someone's picture of them on the internet, I had to add it to my list of places to visit for whenever we made it to Scotland. They were definitely worth the stop!
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