baskets and will fill it with delights decided in advance. If you’re in the Dennistoun area, head for Tapa Coffee 8. Bakehouse.
One of the most brilliant alfresco innovations on the Edinburgh picnic scene comes from Voujon, a Bangladeshi restaurant on the Southside. Over the summer you can take away or have delivered a four- tiered tiffin box. just like the traditional ones used on the Indian sub- continent. The $17.95 set menu (veggie, chicken or lamb) is £17.95 and includes a starter, a main course. rice, naan and a Cobra beer. There's a 210 deposit for the tiffin box, which keeps food warm for up to two hours, and the vegetarian options are particularly good. Victor Hugo, which sells a range of picnic baskets, and can fill them up with bespoke packages, as do Natural Oasis. If you want to really impress someone. Harvey Nichols will put whatever you fancy into a basket. Prices start at £20 for champagne and sarnies. Or if you have money to burn, they are doing a promotion with Moet & Chandon which involves you being served a luxury picnic by what it calls a “model butler' for three hours. All this for just £1500. You’ll probably be as happy with something from Greggs.
GET WHEELS
Two wheels not just good but fast. healthy and environmentally sound. Renting a bike has plenty of other benefits according to Peter Butterworth of bike tours and rentals firm Cycle Scotland. You'll get the right size and model for your needs, he says, you can join an organised group or be given a recommended route and even hire a fleet of bikes, ideal if you have friends staying. Peter advises taking the road up Arthur's Seat seat and then walking to the summit, or heading along the Innocent Cycle Path to Craigmillar Castle. “It's beautiful and, I think, an undervisited attraction,‘ he says. www.cyclescotland.co.uk
DRESS FOR SUCCESS Women's summer fashion has gone completely crazy this year. Pick something bright and go with it. Try to avoid leggings, if at all possible.
The long and the short of it For some reason, although there are denim daisy dukes to be had all over the high street. the sizing is totally out. You could be in possession of the slenderest thighs known to womankind and you'd still find yourself squeezing into something three sizes bigger than your usual. Save yourself
some money and self-esteem and take scissors to an old pair of jeans. Folk explosion This applique-d. smocked. embroidered frock here is folk. Not boho. It's nothing like boho at all. Boho was over years ago.
What happens at T in the Park stays at T in the Park Wellies. tiny shorts and neon cagouls, wellies and floaty dresses, wellies over skinny jeans. All excellent looks for hanging around outside the Slam tent or stepping delicately over puddles of vomit. However, striding about in your boots in the city will make you look like a minor royal lost on the way to a drag hunt. See also: glow-sticks as necklaces. wearing your festival wristband for more than a week after you get home.
MAKE LIFE A BEACH
With over 60% of the UK's total coastline in Scotland. we're almost spoilt for choice when it comes to beaches. St Andrews is one of the c0untry's best and is a favourite for surfers. The seaside resort of Ayr is a geologist's paradise as well as being popular for scuba diving. The windswept coast at Fife's Cambo Sands is the perfect place for a quiet stroll or a picnic. While the lesser- known Sea Cliffs beach, just a few miles south of North Berwick, offers magical vistas to re-enact the final scenes in Goonies. What could be better?
LEARN HOW TO
THROW A FRISBEE
Without spin, a Frisbee throw is nothing. The easiest is the ‘backhand': place your thumb over and your fingers under the disc and pull your arm across your body. The disc should come with a mix of arm and wrist. in a smooth movement that you may find easier if you start slowly, rather than trying to ping it to the back of beyond. If you're not getting enough spin, try kinking your wrist inward, then snapping it out. If you throw the disc at an angle. it will head towards the direction its lowest edge is pointing, allowing you to Curl it around obstacles and — hopefully — right into the expectant arms of the receiver. For side-arm throws and other fancy stuff, see en.wikipedia.org/wikil Disc_throws
SUMMERIN THE CITY
Mind your head
headwear for every summery ocassion from the beech to the rodeo
Floppy flower hot 215, www.beyondretro.com
Straw cowboy hat £15. Topman
Mini striped cap £15,prshop
Cloth hat 210—12, Burton
Dene: Hat E30. Dune
Goorln Straw Cadet £14.99. Urban Outfitters
5—19 Jul 2007 THE LIST 15