Raid Pyrenees Etage 2
What a chilled-out place Copenhagen turns out to be, hosted by Anita's delightful and lively aunt, who i swear is not a day over 50. I think Anita, who most would concede appears 10 years my junior, holds some of those same age-defying genes in her makeup. Most of the country is apparently holidaying in Italy. We've had a few days seeing some of the sights; the Little Mermaid as well as big busted variants, Hamlet's castle, tranquil lakes, soothing beers and ice cream, and some gentle forest walks where I've tried to become familiar with the local birds. Being first to catalogue such things results in the northern hemisphere twitchers owning the nomenclature, which means that rather than having to ID the "yellow-spotted long-tailed coal bunting", I've been able to tick such common northern classics as Robin, Swift, Swallow, Magpie, Jay, Wren, Cuckoo and Coot. So easy. Not so easy to ID the myriad of other little brown birds, which do go by more complicated descriptors, although I now know the ubiquitous call of the Chiffchaff (app assisted), even though I'm yet to draw a good bead on the little bugger.
Although I pass a little German, the Danish language is a bit of a mystery, but I now know that sampling a gastro pub is no excuse to brood over a bog or ignore fart kontrol. The weather is equally bemusing, with the light finally waning at approx 10:30 pm, only to show its face again at 4 am. Perfect for 24 hr racing when you think about it. Now to pack on as many kilos as 3 square meals a day, 10 types of fish, gentle twitching and tourist strolls will allow, before heading for warmer climes in the land of the croissant and baguette. Haven't caught much of the tour but I gather it's lost a bit of its allure given the seeming inevitability of the result. Almost finished my second viewing of Hamilton's excellent book, before I delve into the David Millar confession. Back-to-back books and twitching means I really am on holiday.
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