Scotland
Scotland Made Me Loony
I’ve always known Scottish people were crazy – but I only discovered just how crazy when I attended the annual Hogmanay Festival in Edinburgh. I soon became aware of what is one of the more eccentric traditions of the 3 day festival – The Loony Dook, literally meaning “loony dip”…
So it’s New Years Day. You’re probably hungover. You probably are not going to get out of bed until the sun has risen and set a few more times. You are probably not Scottish then. Because if you were Scottish you would of course be on your way to Queensferry to have a quick dip in the freezing water… Talk about extreme hangover cure.
Now I am not Scottish, but I do enjoy watching Scottish people do amusing things, so I dressed warmly and decided to go and watch the famous Loony Dook on the 1st of January. I had my excuse. The tickets had sold out so there was no way I would be able to participate in the took this year… What a shame…
But of course many tourists intend to participate in the dook. Ambitiously purchasing tickets many months before the 7th round of New Years Eve drinks. So what was I offered by two lovely Australians on the same bus as me to the dook? A ticket intended for their friend who’didn’t make it out of bed this morning’…
When you are on your way to observe a crazy foreign tradition and you are offered a ticket to the sold-out event which involves running into freezing cold water you can’t really say no, (Well you could – but that’s no fun). So I accepted the fact that I didn’t have a change of clothes or a towel – silently feeling proud that I at least wore my kilt so I could attempt to fit in with the extremely quirky crowd – and I prepared myself freezing morning dip.
First there is the parade. I proudly marched alongside dinosaurs, puffy sumo fighters, superheroes and one man who had completely covered himself in bubble wrap, (probably the warmest member of the crowd).
You know the feeling when you are expecting something bad to happen and time seems to slow down unnaturally. That’s what it feels like as you approach the water. You get to the top of the stairs that lead to the beach. You watch the crazy people in front of you brave the water. You still have a sense of denial that it will soon be you down there. You reach the water. It’s cold, crazy and completely amazing. As soon as you enter you lose all sense of sanity. It doesn’t matter how cold your body is because the adrenaline sets you on fire.
You can then proudly claim to be as loony as the Scots.
