In May 2001 I went for a week's holiday with my wife and our three month old daughter to Sorrento, near Naples in southern Italy. The holiday was really just a break, but we chose Sorrento as it was close to Pompei and Herculaneum, which are two places I've been keen to visit.

Most people have heard of Pompei, but Herculaneum, although smaller, is in many ways just as interesting. Whereas Pompei was buried under a layer of volcanic ash from the erruption of nearby Vesuvius in AD79, Herculaneum was buried under a pyroclastic mudflow caused by the same erruption. This has preserved Herculaneum in different ways. For instance, many wooden artifacts survived (although a bit burnt!) and even a rope has been excavated.