New Year's eve - Hogmanay

We went to the New Year's eve celebration right here on Princess Street Edinburgh called Hogmanay. Every year, Princess Street, which is about a mile long, is blocked off for Hogmanay. This event typically draws over 10,000 people. I believe the party starts at around 19:00. We got there at 22:30 (oh right, over here military time is used throughout...not sure why) since Dylan was not feeling well. At 22:30 the party was well into full swing. We were exhausted and starting to get frustrated after we managed to snake our way to the start of Princess Street. The air was damp and started to drizzle shortly after we got there. There were roughly 4-5 live bands staged at different spots along Princess Street. Street vendors selling festival foods and drinks lined the street, adding to the congestion. After a futile attempt to make it to the other end of Princess Street (we only managed to go a quarter way), we decided to park ourselves at the start of Princess Street, back where we started, which was less crowded.

Some of the more memorable scene we took in that night were a girl who passed out drunk way before midnight. She was on the wet ground totally gone to the world while her poor girl friends were left to wonder what to do with her. Dylan was approached by a random young girl for some "pills". What pills, we wondered? Did she want vitamins??!! Wished I had some then, I would have gladly given them to her! Not to mentioned loads of indecent display of "affection" by couples or random strangers who just hooked up. Guys who were wearing kilts were more than happy to flash passerby and friends. And since there were way more people than porta-potties, you can use your imagination on what we witnessed - boys and gals alike!

Now, I guess I don't have to tell you that these behaviours were driven by drunkenness. How sad. Strangely enough, here's a couple of verses in Isaiah 5 from my bible reading last night - quite scary. Verses 11 & 22 - "Woe to those who rise early in the morning to run after their drinks, who stay up late at night till they are inflamed with wine." and "Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine and champions at mixing drinks". Wow. But rather than passing judgment, perhaps prayers for God's mercy with this nation where excessive drinking is quite commonly celebrated, old and young alike (who do not know Christ)?

Blessings and peace to all!