A glorious day – Faune, October 2018

It might be the last.

September in Stockholm. Doesn’t the phrase have a timeless, almost eternal ring to it? It certainly deserves a place among the classic travel experiences. To capture it, timing is everything. Autumn here lasts but a fleeting moment – blink, and it’s already gone. It’s a few glorious weeks between an impossibly unreliable summer and a winter that will keep the Swedish capital in its grip for months, with sub-zero temperatures and a million shades of gray. In September, you can almost feel people bracing themselves for the months ahead, the careless abandon of the summer months gone, and an altogether more aware stance taking its place. In September, Stockholmers return to the city from their rosé-fuelled vacations in Italy, France or the local archipelago, and they make the most of these last weeks of sun that is still warm. In September, they know they’re heading for the annual test in perseverance – for each year of increasing age, it seems more demanding – and they talk about it almost every day, saying to each other, ”What a glorious day – it must be one of the last.” Don’t despair. Most years, Stockholm has many fine days to spare. Come late October, the days have mercilessly gotten shorter and a cold wind start blowing from the sea. But for now, the city is all about color and crisp air, from the running paths along Lake Mälaren to the explosion of golden yellow and rusty red in Tyresta, a national park on the edge of the city.

We’ll be heading there in just a minute, but let’s stick around in the city for a little while longer. It’s a slow and sunny Sunday morning. Get out early enough – 8 am will do – and you’ll be able to witness the magical mist that arises from the water on Djurgården channel when the sun starts warming its chilly surface. Perhaps you’ll see someone paddling a kayak or a stand-up paddle board, enjoying a private moment in the middle of a city slowly waking up.

Soon, people start heading to the cafés, bakeries and terraces all around Stockholm’s 14 islands, many of them equipped with infrared lamps and woolen blankets for extra cozyness. Pass one of these bakeries and an irresistible smell of sugar and spice will draw you in. If I were to choose the best bun in town to pack for our forest excursion, I’d probably vote for the cardamom one from Valhallabageriet on Östermalm. Sticky and sugary on top, soft and gooey inside, eating it almost feels like a crime. On the other hand, you could probably subsist on these buns alone for the better part of the day. If Valhallabageriet is not on your way, fill your picnic bag with buns, coconut macaroons, croissants and egg-caviar sandwiches, a staple of the Swedish diet, from Fabrique, Riddarbageriet or Petrus Bageri instead, depending on which part of Stockholm you’re staying in.

With fika – the Swedish word for a coffee and snacks – in order, it’s time to head out of the city. Almost 60 percent of Sweden’s land area is covered in forest, and 5,000 hectares of its purest form lies just 20 kilometers, or a 30-minute drive, from the centre. It’s a perfect day trip for a dose of what the Japanese call shinrin-yoku, or forest bathing. According to Japanese studies, spending time in the forest boosts our immune systems, reduces stress hormones, enhances mental wellness and bolsters brain health. A UK study recently found that it even improves our body image – apparently, spending time in green spaces can help us feel better about our bodies. Swedes have no specific word for it, but have nevertheless known about its benefits for centuries. Wandering in the woods is a popular pastime, and at this time of year, you’ll most likely meet people in Tyresta with a basket in hand, looking for mushrooms. No use in asking where they find them, as in Sweden, mushroom spots are secrets people guard more carefully than their innermost thoughts.

With a landscape formed over millions of years and large areas of primeval forest – forest that lives its own life without human intervention – Tyresta is a precious asset to Stockholmers. There’s nothing like it so near any other major European city. The best way to get to here is by car, but a bus will do as well. Follow the signs, and after a few minutes, you’ll enter one of the most unspoiled areas of natural beauty in central Sweden, characterised by a rift valley landscape typical for this part of the country but unique in an international perspective. There’s so much to experience here, but a good place to start is the path that takes you to the virgin forest, with pine trees over 400 years old. They are the park’s unique selling point and the prime reason that this area has been set aside as a national park. They do not impress so much with their size as with their beautifully crooked branches and intricate root systems, signs of struggles through time. Touching their arms, sometimes silky smooth and other times rough, is a moment that will make you feel small. Centuries upon centuries of life before you is preserved here, from trees to black forest ponds and 8,000 species of animals, many of them red-listed. Find a spot on a sunny, moss-covered rock or by a lake, unpack your fika and enjoy the beauty of doing nothing. Just watching and listening how the wind hums. Seeing how a bird takes flight.

Returning to the city and driving over the Centralbron bridge, you’re arrive right into the old heart of Stockholm. On your right is the medieval Old Town, with the spire of the German church rising like an urban mountain top above the black roofs. On your left, you’ll see the City Hall from 1923, one of Stockholm’s most beloved buildings. With its 106-metre tower and arched courtyard, it resembles a cathedral or a monastery. But look closely, and you’ll see little symbols on the roof, representing no particular religion, but our universe: a star, the moon and the sun, still shining on Stockholm. If you come here, I hope you do it on a glorious autumn day, and I hope you will make the most of it. Because, as the locals say, it might be the last.