It’s taking all of my will power to keep my shoulders submerged as I bob around in the icy waters of the Antrim coast, gazing up at the 400-year-old Ballygally Castle hotel.
I am trying out Hastings Hotels’ “Sauna by the Sea” experience, mere hours after landing in Belfast. After five minutes I’ve reached a sort of thrilling acceptance of – and dare I say it pleasure in – my coldness, but I notice my toes are numb so I dart back out of the ocean and straight into a beachfront sauna, swiftly followed by a hot chocolate next to Ballygally Castle’s crackling fire and twinkling Christmas trees, shrouded in the dry robe provided by local company Scenic Sauna.
