On March 25, Henrik Frandsen, the mayor of a Danish town near the border between Denmark and Germany, saw an octogenarian couple sitting right on the concrete line that has separated the two countries since March 13 - when the Danish government closed borders to contain the advance of COVID-19.

Over the concrete barrier, the couple had organized a simple, improvised picnic, with coffee that she brought from Denmark and a bottle of liquor that he brought as a gift from the German side.

Karsten Tüchsen Hansen - 89 years old - and Inga Rasmussen - 85 years old - met two years ago. One of those coincidences that seemed to come out of a romantic comedy: they met in line at a shop, when he was on his way to deliver a bouquet of flowers originally intended for another woman. Inga kept them.

From then on they began to cross the German-Danish border every day, sometimes returning to their own country only for a few hours before meeting again. These are the benefits of the open borders of the European Union.

The arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic affected them, as it disrupted everyone's lives. On March 13 the Danish government announced the closure of the border and the couple had to distance themselves. But they did not allow the pandemic to separate them.

Every day at 3 p.m. Inga arrives driving her car and Karsten riding his electric bicycle to share coffee while they talk and miss holding hands and kissing as before.

But gradually both Denmark and Germany are beginning to lift their mobility restrictions. Perhaps it won't be long before they embrace each other again.

"We're here because of love," Karsten told the New York Times."Love is the best thing in the world."