I always leave on a Thursday night

with me tent and groundsheet rolled up tight.

I always like to hit Lisdoon

in or around a Friday afternoon..

Actually Würzburg was the destination for the last weekend of January 2006 to attend the annual Film Festival there. Given Owen’s involvement with the local film festival group there is usually at least one film of Irish interest showing so this festival makes for an enjoyable weekend for those of us Paddies living in Germany who like to keep in touch with things past, present and future on the green isle.

Like Christy and Lisdoon I have built up my own habits for the annual trip to Würzburg each January. For the past few years on festival weekend I have taken the train at 9:35 on Saturday morning and arrived in Würzburg at 12:26. This year, due to highjinks at work, I did not get a chance to buy the train ticket until the day before departure. When the ticket agent pressed the last button in the reservation process I discovered that the price was almost double (163 Euro) the 83 Euro which I had paid in previous years. It was time for a quick decision – I decided to break with tradition and drive the car instead. The Phoenix Christmas Annual would have to wait for the next journey before being read. As things turned out it was just as well I brought the car – more on that later.

When I got to Würzburg on Saturday evening I located Owen's apartment building without any problems. The man himself was out looking after film directors and producers but, as promised, it took him just a couple of minutes to get back to the apartment and let me in. After a few digestives washed down by a cupán tae we were ready for road.

The Irish-interest films which I wanted to view were not showing until Sunday so Saturday evening was basically spent eating and catching up on Owen’s recent activities as he brought the curtain down on his tenure in Germany to return home to a job in Sligo. I was informed that I should make sure I ate enough as in between viewing the 2 Irish-interest films on Sunday there would some furniture removal and book sorting work to be done! So I tucked in to a lovely plate of fried potatoes, ham steak and fried egg. Just what the doctor ordered before a hard days work!

On the way back from the restaurant we stopped off at the cinema at 11:45 to view a late night film which we thought would be interesting and help us to relax before the days work ahead on Sunday. The film did the trick – I slept well for the first hour or so; when it was over at 01:45 I thought I'd have to call the fire brigade to get Owen out of the place!

We got up around 9:30 on Sunday morning. Molly's Way was showing at 11:00 so we headed over to the cinema and enjoyed the 84 minute long Irish-Polish fictional film which followed an Irish woman tracing a Polish man she had met in Ireland.

Afterwards, we headed back to Owen’s place. After more digestives washed down by a cupán tae we lashed into the furniture removal. The object of the exercise was to move the larger pieces down to the cellar from where they were to be collected the following week by a local charity group. Owen double, and treble, checked the widths of the doors, stairs and lift before announcing that we could proceed. After an hour the mission had been completed. Another hour later and I had sorted out a box of books which I would keep from the boxes which Owen had decided to leave behind. It was a good thing I had the car with me ; otherwise treasures such as & Munster Hurling Legends and The IRA would have fallen into the wrong hands. With that box of books, the 80cm spirit-level and various tiling implements I have enough reading and tiling material to keep me going for a few years now!

On Sunday evening the short film ‘Idir Dhá Shaol’ turned out to be the film highlight of the weekend for me. It told the story of Galwayman Willie Walsh who was one of the numerous Irish people who ended up homeless in London during the heavy emigration years in pre -Celtic Tiger times. Willie talked about his hard times, his recovery and current work at CHC (Cricklewood Homeless Concern). We also saw him making an emotional return to Ireland to see his family, whom he had rejected in shame during his homeless years. While home, he also revisited the bog on which he worked as a child, and we saw him give a rousing speech, as Gaeilge, at a fundraiser for CHC in Castlebar. Willie was not fortunate enough to receive much formal education but one could see in the film and as he stood and spoke on the stage in Castelbar what an intelligent man he was.

All good things come to an end some time and so it was on Sunday evening 29^th January 2006 when Idir Dhá Shaol finished and the festival came to a close. I said Good Luck to Owen and headed off on the journey home. Heres hoping for more of the same in January 2007!