Saying Goodbye in Ballylickey -- Hello Ring of Kerry!

What a busy morning we have – Gene, my driver for my chauffeur tours is coming up from Glengarriff for breakfast so we can finally meet. We’ve talked numerous times over the phone but we’ve always missed each other during our visits to Ireland. Unfortunately business has been slow and I haven’t had any chauffeurs for him this year but a larger company in Kerry has only had one contract job for him as well so it’s slow all over.

When Florence returned from the bank we gave her another computer lesson, showing her how to upload photos and more email features … and we finally began our exit. It’s tough saying goodbye after a nice visit but I truly wanted to try and fit in Skellig Michael which was a day trip from the Ring of Kerry. We bought our painting but not before Florence ran into the studio and gave us a wonderful painting of her own, an oil painting of sun flowers which we had admired on previous visits. “This is for the baby!” and we both gave her a great big hug! She’ll be one of the baby’s best Aunts in the whole world, a French-speaking Aunt from Ireland.

Onward over the Caha Pass and through the Sheehy Mountains, my favorite views of Bantry Bay and the mountains and this was a gorgeous day so I had to stop again and add more photos. I have to replace the wrap on my car and I need a series of 3 photos to make a panorama on the back windows of the MINI Cooper – a perfect location to capture the grand vistas of Ireland.

We made a brief stop in Kenmare again, unable to resist the charm of the main street full of color bars, restaurants and B&Bs. We popped into a pub for a quick lunch, paying €8 for a toasted sandwich and chips – pretty steep but still on the low end for food these days. Stick with the pubs for the least expensive food!
Bob wanted to hit a few stores looking for lace wine bags to use as gifts for the upcoming holiday season but no one had them… the did make great gifts but we’ve been unable to find them the past year or two. In one of the sweater stores I was suckered into another Irish sweater – after having sold my previous ones on eBay for a steal! I opted for a thinner wool cardigan that is a bit more dressy and not so hot to wear but at $90 it was quite expensive, the big purchase of the trip!

Continuing on to the Ring of Kerry we passed through Sneem, full of tour buses having just come off the Ring and ready for a rest. The roads are quite a bit bigger in places and the Ring isn’t as picturesque as I had remembered… perhaps it’s because I’ve traveled more of the off-beaten Ireland that is untouched by tourism? I really have to advise folks against traveling this when I can as there are so many other natural landscapes that will move people to tears. In fact we were only by the water a very short bit before ending up in Waterville, our base for the night.

The Butler Arms Hotel is one of the “manor house hotels” I offer to folks on the Ring and the location is perfect, right in the middle of the drive. This 4-star property is very unassuming on the outside and on the inside I was a bit taken by the décor. I’m not sure why I was disappointed because the room was clean and sizable for a standard room, the public lounges, bars and restaurants were fine as well but something in me tells me that booking clients in this manor home would leave them a bit disappointed, mainly from expectation. I’ve stayed at Cahernane House and it’s absolutely stunning so comparing the two is like comparing an orange and a grapefruit – similar, but very different tastes.

We did have dinner at the hotel and the food was quite nice, a requirement for receiving a “manor home” distinction. Mind you the food was very expensive, expensive in Irish currency as well as the currency conversion. I want to say my small piece of organic Irish salmon was €24 which is about $35, a price I’m not accustomed to paying for salmon anywhere even if it is organic.

The Butler Arms Hotel does have character and is well situated for our needs and they offer two services which I’m eager to point out to clients, a pick-up service for trips to Skellig Michael as well as a picnic basket service for snacking while out there since there are no services or facilities on the island. As long as I advise clients that I would consider the hotel a 3-star property with good location, I think we’re all good.

Visiting Raymond Klee in Ballylickey

The weather has been extremely unusual for Ireland – sunny and warm! In fact I think I might be getting a slight tan as we sit outside with our friends Raymond and Florence.

Let’s see, we drove from Doolin to Ballylickey in about 4 hours and this is where distances versus time is quite deceiving. We were in Limerick around 11:00am south on the N20 which is a nice-sized motorway. The total distance to our turn-off was about 105km, maybe 60 miles and it took us about two hours. The motorway narrows through villages with traffic here and there. Once off the main road the traveling was even slower through winding mountain roads until we emerged into Ballylickey.
Raymond and Florence were in the kitchen when we arrived so we walked in, made ourselves at home and began the process of catching up on the past year.

Unfortunately Raymond has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and his memory is not what it used to be, though he did remember the two of us. My fear was having him wonder who we were and why we were staying in his house. He had none of that and within the hour Raymond was whisking us off to his studio to show us the works he’s completed and what he was working on now. In fact he painted a wonderful seascape which he allowed me to get on film!

Oh, wait… I had a woman, Judy, contact me through the Internet to find out more about a painting of Raymond’s that she purchased through a thrift store. We emailed quite a bit within two days, me receiving digital photos and a letter to bring to Ireland for Raymond. I decided to go one step further and get his reaction on video, knowing full well that he would give me a show for Judy and that he did. I began reading the letter and his eyes would open wide and he would give me one of his grins indicating the show was about to begin. Just as I came to the part asking about the name of the painting he paused, full-grin and slowly gave the name… “Oil” … “Painting” and that was the end of the letter and questions. Sorry Judy! That is when Raymond went back to his oil painting and the video taping continued.