ukraine: Epiphany (Крещение)

Крещение is Epiphany.  According to the Orthodox calendar, Christmas is 7 January, and Крещение is 19 January.  The 12th day of Christmas. The tradition here in Kyiv is to take a dip in the Dnieper River.  Something about washing away the old, and starting the new year all clean and shiny. This year the air temperature was 1C, and the water was probably the same.  I saw a few chunks of ice in the water, as it had been colder a couple weeks ago, and some areas of water were still frozen. Last year the air temperature was -8C, ice was forming at the edges of the water.
Some years the weather gets cold well before this holiday, so the river freezes. When that happens, a hole has to be cut in the ice! I'm not sure I have the guts to jump in that kind of water. 
This year I found someone to make a video with my smartphone, so I walked into the water, went all the way under three times (the tradition) and came back out.  Then I discovered the guy hadn't done the video right, so I ended up doing it all over again! EEEEK. The water was COLD!!! It was hard to hold my breath each time I went under. Most of my body felt fine as soon as I was out of the water.
Except for my toes, which took several hours to warm up to normal. SO COLD!!
After my swim, I put on several layers of warm clothes, after taking off my wet swimsuit. I had two towels with me, as well as a scarf and hat. If only there was something I could do with clothes for my toes!!