People

Norway is one of Europe's most insufficiently populated countries. With a masses of only 5 million people and a territory scope of 385,802 km2, the people thickness is only 16 occupants for each km2. A vast part of the people are Norwegians. The indigenous Sami people by and large have the northern bit of Norway, that nearby parts of Sweden, Finland and Russia follows a region known as ""Sapmi"" (or "Sameland"). Other saw minorities are the Kven people, Jews, Forest Finns, and Norwegian Romani Travelers.

WHAT'S NEW? MORE TRAVEL NEWS

An atmospheric railway scene made from salvaged film sets is the backdrop for a pop-up restaurant at Kilver Court (pictured above), the designer shopping village near Shepton Mallet in Somerset. Stage 1 features original props from British films, including a 19th-century-style platform and coach. Seasonal dishes include treacle-cured venison with sour cherry and apple salad.

• Call 07768 930380 or email stage1@kilvercourt.com. Open until early 2013

 

Tour

According to the ancient Mayas, time runs in 394.23-year cycles known as Bak'tuns. The current cycle ends on 21 December. To mark this, Guatemala Tourist Board has launched the Bak'tun Route, linking 11 Mayan cities. Join a tour or download a map to follow independently the route, which takes in highlands, rainforest and volcanoes. 

• visitguatemala.com/2012

NORWAY TRAVEL GUIDE

taichigch busguin ochil from Naabaa Naku on Vimeo.
From sudden frosty masses to douse sided ravines and crystalline fjords, Norway's standard fabulousness is hard to overstate. The unspoilt wild of the Arctic north is one of the few spots where the sun shines at midnight in the midst of the mid year and where the stupendous Northern Lights light up the skies in the midst of the long winter faint. Further to the south, the excellent urban groups of Oslo, Trondheim and Bergen are brimful of structures displaying Scandinavia's age-old vitality for setup in cosmopolitan surroundings.

The Gig Venue Guide: Koko, LonDon

Who plays there: Koko’s big on the rock and indie circuit – it’s the venue bands play when they’re too big for the clubs and not big enough for Brixton Academy. You get hip-hop here, too, plus occasional special shows from star acts – including Prince, Madonna and Red Hot Chili Peppers. Regular club nights include Club NME every Friday night and Guilty Pleasures on the last Saturday of each month. The presence of Club NME means Friday night headliners have to be on by 8pm, to give the venue time to clear before the indie drinkers come in.

 

Cloakroom: Yes.

 

Admission: Generally around £20, increasing for bigger names (or infrequent tourers) and diminishing for those less well-known or nearer the start of their careers. Also, be aware that Koko is an over-18s venue unless otherwise stated for specific gigs.

 

Bar: There’s no trouble with the number of bars at Koko. What can be less easy is getting served in a timely fashion, especially at the main downstairs bar, where staff seem to divide the bar into sections: God help you if you end up standing right on the dividing line, where you could end up waiting all night. Drinks themselves are the usual cans of beer or generic wines and spirits. Cans are decanted into plastic glasses. Prices, as is the way of major London venues, are just the wrong side of reasonable.

 

Food: No.

 

Toilets: Plenty of them, upstairs and downstairs. Though you wouldn’t call them a treat to visit, especially at the end of the night.

 

Disabled access: There is ramp access into the building, put in place by security when needed, with an accessible viewing area beneath the royal box at Balcony level (which is the level you enter at). Tickets are sold through normal agents, and are not marked as “accessible viewing area”, but the space is allocated. Those with accessibility needs should contact the venue on 0870 432 5527 to arrange entrance and viewing area allocation. Those needing a personal assistance should contact the venue direct – it offers a two-for-one ticket deal for personal assistants. There is an accessible toilet next to the accessible viewing area.

 

Sound: Generally OK, with one or two warnings. Don’t get trapped underneath the balcony, unless you can position yourself near one of the suspended speakers. As is so often the case, those underneath the overhang get muddy sound.

 

Where to stand: Well, as we’ve just explained: not underneath the overhang of the balcony. So if you’re going for the stalls, get there early enough to get further forward. Be careful if you’re standing at the sides: the emergency exit doors either side of the dancefloor are reached via a couple of steps, which are easy to overlook in the dark of a gig, and you might find yourself with a turned ankle. Upstairs, you need to get in early enough to get to the front of one of the viewing areas. A top tip that I only discovered this year, after literally decades of going to this venue: if you head to the very top viewing area, there’s a row of sofas at the front, which provide perhaps the most comfortable viewing experience in London live music.

Avocado Oil: Chinese fried rice

Ingredients 1 1/3 cups of water 3/4 cups of rice (white or brown) 3 tablespoons of Avocado Oil 4 green onions with tops, chopped 1/4 teaspoon of salt 2 carrots, finely chopped 1/2 cup of finely chopped green bell pepper 1/2 cup of frozen peas 1 egg 2 tablespoons of soy sauce 1 tablespoon of sesame oil 1/4 cup of chopped parsley Preparation In a sauce pan, bring the water and rice to a boil, STIR frequently. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer until rice is tender and has absorbed all the water, about 20 minutes. In a large heavy skillet or wok, heat the avocado oil over medium-high heat. Add the cooked rice and sauce until lightly golden. Add the green onions, salt, carrots, peppers and peas (cooked meat if desired). Stir-fry until the vegetables are tender-crisp (about 5 minutes). Hollow out a circle in the center of the skillet by pushing the vegetables and rice to the sides. Break an egg into the hollow area and cook, lightly scrambling the egg as it cooks. Stir the scrambled egg into the rice mixture. Sprinkle with soy sauce, sesame oil and chopped parsley. Serve immediately.

Top museums in London

Housed in a bright white former banana warehouse by the river, the Design Museum was once the city's foremost showcase of modern design. It had on display a permanent collection of more than 2,000 everyday objects, such as telephones, vacuum cleaners, furniture, ceramics, and the like, the aim being to explain why mass-produced objects look the way they do, and how design contributes to the quality of our lives. Unfortunately, the collection was put into storage a few years ago when the museum decided to focus on temporary exhibitions of contemporary designers instead -- consult the website for details of the latest shows. There are plans to bring the permanent collection out of the vaults at some unspecified point in the future.

Travel tips: London\'s Hotel Café Royal, winter gardens and the week\'s best deals

From 3 December the Café Royal will reinvent itself as London’s newest five-star hotel. Photograph: Amit Geron

Take me there: Café Royal, London

 

It's been a high-society café and a decadent nightclub, playing host to everyone from Oscar Wilde to David Bowie, but from 3 December the Café Royal will reinvent itself as London's newest five-star hotel. David Chipperfield Architects is behind the upgrade of the 19th-century Grade I-listed building on Regent Street, which has been closed for five years. The hotel will have 159 rooms with a midcentury-modern flavour, plus several restaurants and a spa. Rooms will cost from £450, but until March 2013 a special introductory rate of £350 is available, including a bottle of champagne and late checkout. (hotelcaferoyal.com)