Edinburgh v Glasgow
As we left Alnwick, the sun was shining, we had the roof down and drove across the Holy Island causeway and walked to Lindisfarne Castle. We ate a local crab sandwich and some of the sweetest-ever strawberries purchased from locals. Things were looking good!
As we drove further north, the oil pressure remained low and the brake noise returned. We crossed the Scottish border and our first stop in Edinburgh was NOT the castle - it was Halfords - to buy thicker engine oil in an attempt to resolve the pressure issue. Thankfully we had undercover parking at the Sheraton so Mr F could do his usual mobile mechanic impersonation. :) We had two nights here and, although it was freezing cold and intermittently raining, we managed to walk the Royal Mile & view an excellent exhibition of paintings in the King's Gallery at Holyrood Palace. We highly recommend the 'Real Mary King's Close' experience which takes you into preserved areas of old Edinburgh underneath the City Chambers building. Another favourite of ours was touring the Royal Yacht Britannia. You can catch the tram or bus there from central Edinburgh. Entry includes a free audioguide and you can even enjoy a meal on board in the restaurant.
As Mr F tinkered with the brakes again and completed the oil change, he was concerned about the colour of the oil - we may have a serious engine problem. We're starting to consider towing contingencies if the thicker oil solution doesn't work. To make matters worse, as we went to leave, we found that one of our tyres was completely flat. Thankfully, Glasgow was not far and our hotel let us check-in early (Thank you Glasgow Marriott). We not only had to find a laundromat (since we can't carry much luggage in 'M') but now we also had to find someone to repair our tyre so we have a spare for the onward journey. A big shout-out goes to Glasgow City Laundrette and Dry Cleaners who did our washing for 20 GBP and had it ready for collection within a couple of hours. https://glasgowcitylaundry.co.uk/ We also lucked it by finding Dave at GTC who patched our tyre and we collected it the next day. https://www.gorbalstyrecentre.co.uk/ We were happy to see that the oil pressure had improved with the thicker mixture and it looks like we will make it back to the South without calling a tow truck. The weather in 'summery' Glasgow was colder than our winter temperatures back home and it rained for most of the time. We got a bit fed up with being cold and wet and 'M's soft-top clearly needs more waterproofing! Add that to the long list of things that need fixing!
We recommend visiting the St Mungo's Cathedral and nearby Necropolis, the Riverside Transport Museum and Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery. A lot of streets and key locations are being dug up and renovated at the moment, making it quite noisy and difficult to navigate at times. The wall murals are really amazing and there are a lot of beautiful buildings dating back to the wealthy times of trading in tobacco and cotton. Our next stop is Ambleside in the Lake District then onward to 'M's home destination.
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