copenhagen, 2026: three decades

In Copenhagen, five of us shared a cosy apartment where the windows overlooked the courtyard, and the balconies of all the other apartment buildings near us. I could see the flowers beginning to bloom in the garden, though I remained wrapped up in all my layers the whole time I was there; Scandinavian springtime still feels like winter to a tropical girl. I could also see people sitting on their balconies in the mornings with their coffee and their reading material of choice. Perhaps it’s the desire to make the most of the daylight hours as they grow longer, precious sunlight emerging from the long dark frost. Despite how cold it felt in these dawning hours, it seemed to me that people woke early here. There was a lived-in homeyness about being nestled in a neighbourhood like this that made me feel very quickly settled in. I had come down with something towards the end of my time in London and arrived in Copenhagen with what was either a cold or aggressive hay fever—I never figured it…