My customary February trip to Glasgow has been a long time coming this year. In the past, its not always been the most successful of events. My attempts to initiate others into the ways of the city haven't always gone down too well. So this time, like last October's trip I decided to stick to the winning formula. Just me, a proper relaxing break and lots of music and wandering. I've got into a pattern on these trips too of spending the mornings zipping around the place at high speed, then relaxing in the afternoon before heading out in the evening. With this in mind, I set out to catch the 09:00 to Ayr - primarily because this was worked by new Class 380 sets. There is an earlier diagram, and I was tempted to cover that and head for Wemyss Bay too - but the thought of struggling through the peak crowds wasn't conducive to the relaxed holiday mood so I settled for this one. Arrived at Central Station and after grabbing breakfast, was disappointed to note that a Class 334 was in Platform 11. It soon appeared that this wasn't the Ayr train however, and a pair of shiny new 380s in ScotRail's new Saltire liverly slipped quietly into the platform in front of the 334. Transfered into the newly arrived train - the comfortable and spacious interior of the Desiro family was recognisable straight away, and I was soon speeding out through Paisley and towards the coast.

After a quick turn around at Ayr with time for photos and coffee, I headed back to Glasgow on the same set. The day was a little dull and murky overhead, and I thought about a break now. However I pressed on with the plan to get the 11:28 from Queen Street Low Level all the way through to Edinburgh Waverley. This took in the reopened Airdrie-Bathgate line in the opposite direction to last November's railtour and stopped at some of the new stations. Noted that a few, including the resited Drumgelloch were still not complete as we passed by, but that Caldercruix would open on Sunday. The route felt much slower than other options to Edinburgh, but ran smoothly and quickly enough to ensure this will be a huge asset for travellers in the central belt and who live west of Glasgow once the full service is in place.

Took advantage of a break in Edinburgh to get some lunch and to wander over to the newly relocated Avalanche Records in the Grassmarket. An impressive, tidy new store with ever enthusiastic staff. Picked up a couple of things I certainly couldn't afford, including a pre-release copy of the much anticipated new Zoey Van Goey album. Grabbed some lunch before heading back to Glasgow on the quicker E&G route. The rain appeared to have settled in for the day now, but it was good just to be here and not to have anywhere in particular to rush to. In fact I felt pretty relaxed for the first time in months.