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Our early breakfast started with hot porridge at the big wooden table sitting with four other guests at the B&B. One couple was from the US and the other was from France. We all chatted while we ate and discussed where we had been and where we were going.
Today we found out why they say if the wind stops blowing in Scotland, all the people will fall down! The micro-climate of this island was wild…one minute it was windy and rainy and the next minute it was clear and sunny. The island is amazing, we drove all the way around it stopping to get out and walk a bit and/or take pictures. At one point the hail was coming down so hard it hurt and we had to walk carefully to keep the wind from blowing us over the cliff. We took our time enjoying all the views and driving slowly through what felt like another planet.
There were areas of all rocks, then all mountains and cliffs followed by flat land with moss climbing throughout the space. The cows we saw were long-haired with big sharp horns. The ocean was a backdrop on all sides of the island making it perfectly picturesque.
We were wrapping up the day and found a local brewery to grab a bite and pint of beer. It ended up being not such a great choice for food…dinner was a vegetarian nacho dish which looked like it had been sitting in the kitchen for days. The scotch options on the other hand were great. It looked like the entire bar was full of a hundred single malt scotch whisky bottles from various distilleries all over Scotland. We ordered one to share and upon Giff asking for an ice-cube to chill it as he always does…he was informed by the bartender of the proper way to drink scotch which is to add just a bit of water to it which opens up the flavor but not an ice-cube, which would actually destroys the flavor. I am not a huge fan of whisky (Giff loves the stuff) but if I am going to sip it then I do not prefer the smokey stuff…ick. If I am going to drink a single malt, I prefer the sweeter, smoother type such as the Macallan 18yr. Giff on the other hand prefers it smokey.
We left to head back to our B&B but realized it was kind of early and one more pub couldn’t hurt…we found what looked like a local pub in the town of Portree which was within minutes of our place. We sat at the bar and ordered what we thought would be one beer but turned into several as a couple of locals pulled up stools next to us to talk as hours passed by. They warned us of the 80 mph winds that were suppose to hit Skye tomorrow and said that neither of them would be leaving the house and suggested we stay in as well. The problem with that was we have to be on the road back to Edinburgh (a five-hour drive) where we are staying tomorrow night. Not an ideal situation, maybe they were exagerating….we decided to look online when we got back to our place.
We finally got out of the bar and back to our B&B where we filled out our breakfast forms and saw that there were severe weather warnings for tomorrow…we went to bed.
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Published by Giff Kabat
I grew up in Ohio as a kid, so of course I went to college at “THE” Ohio State University. I graduated in 2001 with a major in business finance. A month after graduation, I moved out to California with my college girlfriend (whom I married in 2005)…and started my career in sales (industrial sales for 5 years…then moved into medical laser sales for 4 years).
In 2009 I was 31 years old. I had a great job, a new house, and a beautiful wife. Just when I thought things couldn’t get any better…my wife and I found out we were going to have a baby. Everything was going according to plan…and I couldn’t have scripted a better life for myself.
Then in the same year…everything changed. My wife, Brandey, called me when I was on my way to work and told me over the phone, something I never thought could be possible in a million years. My beautiful 30-year old pregnant wife was just told that she had breast cancer. At that moment, everything stopped all at once. I immediately went to her…and learned of our new plan…which began with her needing surgery immediately…and the rest we would find out later.
The day we returned from the hospital after Brandey’s surgery…my father died. He had been battling an aggressive cancer of his own…and although he was the one person I wanted to speak with about Brandey having cancer…I never told him. My sister, Brooke, had just gotten married a few months ago, and although he was weak, he was able to walk his little girl down the aisle of her wedding. On the night before my sister’s wedding, Brandey and I told him that we were pregnant and about to make him a grandfather. It made no sense to tell him that everything had changed for us…so he died in peace knowing everything was “the way it should be” for his only 2 children.
2010 was the worst year of my life. We had lost our baby…and for 12 months I watched my wife fight cancer with multiple surgeries, chemotherapy, radiation treatments, and drug therapy. It was a difficult year for us…but we made it. When you go through something like this in life, you learn a lot about yourself and the people around you. I was amazed at the strength and courage of my wife…and how many good people there are in this world. I will be forever grateful for the ones who never ceased to amaze me with their kindness during this hard time. Family, friends, and sometimes complete strangers…helped us make it through this. I am, and will always be especially grateful to my mother, who was with my dad at the very end, when I couldn’t be there, and when things were at their worst. She has been so supportive throughout all of this, and without her everything would have been so much harder for me.
It’s 2011 now…and the plan we have for our life this year…is to make it the best year of our lives. Brandey is officially in remission from breast cancer and she has a 95% chance the cancer will never come back. Besides the love that I have for my wife and family, the loves of my life are food, wine, and adventure travel. My wife and I love traveling to new places, seeing natural wonders, and meeting new people from different parts of the world. So for the next 400 days…we’ve decided to travel the world…and celebrate our lives. There are so many things I took for granted in life that I will never take for granted again. My father worked for over 30 years at the same job with the same company…rarely took time off…and died at 64 years old right after his retirement. For me, this trip is a combination of a tribute to him, along with wanting to spend the time of my life with the “love of my life.”
* The only thing I will miss while we are gone is our family and friends (who we hope will meet us somewhere throughout our trip) and especially our 3 little kitties we left with my mom in Ohio to catsit for the next 400 days. I will also miss watching “American Football” over the weekend…but I’ll do my best to check the scores in the middle of the night.
GIFF
View all posts by Giff Kabat
Spinning Around The World 
The opening line of your post was very Harry Potter-esque!
Love the posts! Congrats on your big adventure. It looks like you are both having a blast!