A mix of fashion show, pop video and urban fairy tale

TYLER BRULÉ: You know it’s going to be a good week when you sail through Heathrow security, you board an almost empty aircraft up to Stockholm, the champagne is surprisingly chilled and the first officer tells you that air traffic control has permitted you to fly a straight line up to Arlanda and you’re going to touch down early. It only gets better when, somewhere just beyond Copenhagen, the clouds part and all the way from Malmö to Stockholm there are shimmering lakes, forests beginning their transformation from lush green to hot orange and tidy farms painted a uniform red.

If you’ve never been to Stockholm on a warm, sunny day in early autumn – go! Hit the city centre some time around 5.30pm as locals are jumping on their bikes and heading for drinks after work and the scene is a mix of fashion show, perfectly choreographed pop video and urban fairy tale. I often warn people who’ve never experienced this particular tableau to invest in a neck-brace for the following morning because they’ll be doing so much head-turning to catch glimpses of cuties on Kronan bicycles that they’re bound to strain a neck muscle. My travel companion Robyn was almost rushed to casualty after an hour on the streets. “Could the residents be any more gorgeous if they tried?” she asked. “The slightly fading tans, the perfect little outfits, the great accessories and they’re all on bikes. It’s almost too perfect.”

Read the full column in the Financial Times here.

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