Needless to say, in a country that has such long and, at times, trying winters, there is much talk at this time of year about the arrival of spring. There have been a few false starts, but for the past few days there has at least been a look of spring about Copenhagen, with the bright sun light giving some welcome warmth – just as long as you stand directly in the rays and there’s no wind!

But that unique ‘spring feeling’ has never been in me more than it was this morning. Not only is the sun out, but for the first time I cycled to work from a new part of Copenhagen – Østerbro (which means ‘eastern bridge’, and is the name of the main district to the east of central Copenhagen).

Dorte and I moved out of our flat yesterday after spending the whole Easter weekend packing, cleaning and moving things to storage (see right!), because unfortunately we can’t move directly in to the flat that we’ve bought on Sønder Boulevard – that will have to wait until May 1st. I say unfortunately, but the huge upside to this potentially poor timing is that during April we’ll be staying with a few extremely generous friends who are lending us spare rooms and hospitality.

Our first port of call is Østerbro for this week, where our friends Eric & Cecelia live, along with their two dogs Rita and Lucy. That’s Dorte and I enjoying the benefits of a dog blanket below. Coming from Houston, Texas, they welcomed us last night with Mexican food and tequila (sipped of course, as the Mexicans would do, not guzzled in shot glasses with salt and lime, as the Brits do).

It’s a sign of the relatively small size of Copenhagen that we’re living on what is essentially the ‘other side of town’ and it still only took me 15 minutes to cycle to work. Which brings me back round to that feeling of spring. It’s a beautiful day, and for this week I get to cycle along the lakes of Copenhagen, where cycle paths run beside long man-made stretches of water that are filled with walkers, runners and cyclists at all times. But the spring feeling isn’t all about the weather – there’s something very exciting about living in a new part of town, if only for a few days, with great friends and something brilliant to look forward to at the end of the month.

Saying goodbye to our rented flat in Vesterbro was a little sad, of course – our first home in Denmark together, and venue for some fantastic visitors and events, not least of which was our wedding preparation and aftermath. But it’s time for a new dawn here, exactly a year after I first moved to Denmark – and there couldn’t be a better time for it than spring.