Truer Ireland (1)

With work all over, I headed out on my own. First picked up my own car, it was surprisingly cheap, though it was bottom of the line of course. I drove it very gently to be fuel efficient, it's ~65% more expensive there. Headed first to the dublin zoo, it was a bit expensive and raining so I considered not going in, but then I remembered I really like zoos so I paid. It made me very happy, I mean actual real happiness. Spent some hours there, could have stayed all day despite the periodic drizzle, but figured I should move on. Drove through Dublin and out towards Glendalough, cause I wasn't quite sure where the other hostels were. There was no room in that hostel, but one at nearby Ballinclea had space. Before heading to that one, I walked a forest/"mountain" path for a couple hours, was beautiful, the sun reflecting off a lake. Hadn't really done anything resembling hiking up to that point, it felt really good. Went to Ballinclea hostel which was a bit off the beaten path. A few british girls fed me, then we played Uno which was quite pleasant. Lent them my laptop while I headed outside where the hostel's operator's mountain search and rescue group were having a BBQ. That's where I realized how lucky I was that the first "touristy" hostel had been full, this evening turned out to be the best experience of the whole trip. Hanging out with actual irish people by the campfire, some chatting and a lot of singing, can't picture that happening here. Started with irish folk songs but eventually moved on to various others. Forced to sing a bit of some myself, but mind was blanking, wish I knew more complete lyrics so I could join in more, and also wish I didn't sound so awful singing. It was pretty damn cold there, it wasn't just me saying so, we really needed that campfire. Part of that was the exceptionally clear night, didn't think I'd ever see that many stars from ireland. Around 4 AM they started BBQing some more food, conversation etc had mostly died out and I decided to finally go to bed. But it was definitely the best experience, and I'd say the most true irish experience.