Copenhagen, Denmark
Winter · Feb 2026
We knew the Little Mermaid wasn’t far.
“Just a short walk from Nyhavn,” they said.
It was a mere 1.7km on paper, a perfectly manageable distance by any measure. But by the time we reached the Little Mermaid, I wasn’t thinking about Hans Christian Andersen anymore; I was wondering whether a nose could actually freeze off.
I knew Wellington, New Zealand, was famous for its winds. What I didn’t know was that Copenhagen could be just as relentless. And I certainly wasn’t expecting it to feel colder than Tromsø. It was, and my carefully packed winter wardrobe proved no match for the biting wind.
At some point, the hubs suggested we cut inland, or take an Uber. But I insisted we keep going. Apparently, I had become very committed to the Little Mermaid.
Suffice it to say, it was the longest and most painful 1.7km I’ve ever walked.
By the time we arrived, I simply couldn’t muster the same enthusiasm as everyone else gathered around the monument. I was cold, miserable, nursing a headache—and, as it turned out, my nose hadn’t frozen off. I just couldn’t feel it anymore.
Maybe it was the biting wind talking, but I found the Little Mermaid surprisingly underwhelming. She was much smaller than I’d expected, and the skyline was more smokestacks than storybook. It wasn’t exactly the fairy-tale setting I’d imagined.
In retrospect, I probably should have listened to the man and saved myself the misery.
Wayfaring: Still 