Holiday Photos - Pompeii.

We are letting mum take over the blog on various days this week to show some of her holiday photos. As you can see, the Flats got to share the Beans bed in their hotel room before they flew to Rome.

Mum likes to take sunset pictures so she took some from the balcony before they sailed from Rome.

It wasn't until she took this photo that she noticed the birds flying in a straight line. She wishes she could have caught them flying across the sun.

Goodbye sun. Make sure you come back tomorrow.

Okay, we think we had better let mum do the talking now.
Thanks boys.
Our first stop was Naples and we had arranged to go on a private tour to Pompeii, Sorrento and Positano with other Cruise Critic members. We started with Pompeii which was buried by ash and pumice when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79AD.


You can see Mt. Vesuvius in the back ground.


The people had no chance to escape and were killed by the intense heat of 250C rather than suffocation. When the people were buried under the ash, their bodies decomposed, and when the archeologists were uncovering the city they poured plaster into the spaces left by the bodies to get an exact replica of the bodies that had been there.


The frescoes and statues have survived the disaster surprisingly well.


A main street.



A bakery. The oven is behind the guide.

This was one of the many brothels. They all had frescoes to show what went on there. Some rather more explicit than this.

There were several small rooms off the main entrance to the brothel each containg a stone bed.

The main street.

This is a reproduction of their street signs. This would have been District 7 Block 13.

All the best houses had large mosaic entrance halls.
So that is just some of the many photos I took of Pompeii. Next time we will see Sorrento and Positano.

Can we have our blog back now please?

Phew! At last mum has finished posting her photos. We are just glad we put our paw down and wouldn't let her post all of them.
These are all from their last stop which was Bergen in Norway and it rained. Mum said it always rains in Bergen. They wandered around the city and mum took photos here and there, and it wasn't until she looked back at them that she realised how many statues and sculptures are there. I'm not letting her talk today, she has had more than enough time on our blog.

Noms and more Norway.

Flynn: Nom nom nom. Oh hello, you just caught me in the middle of my mousie snax. I was going to show you the photos from Olden in Norway, but I have been told it is rude to talk with your mouth full so I better let mum do it.

Mum: Thanks Flynnie.

Our next stop was the town of Olden in the Nordfjord.
It is on the edge of the valley of Oldedalen with some very pretty walks.

In the centre of the town is the 'Old Church'. It was built in 1759 on the site of the original church which had been built in 1300.

I don't know who the people are in the painting as unfortunately
there was no English translation there.

The paintings and carvings are beautiful.

The pew doors and decorations were taken from the old original church.

We followed the river up through the valley......

...... and came to the new church which had been built in 1934 to help preserve the old church.

Olden Lake was very beautiful with the mountains and sky reflected in the still water.

In contrast the river is fast flowing and comes from the Jodestal ice field.


Back to Nordfjord and it was time to board the ship to head towards Bergen.

In the distance can be seen part of the Jostedal Icefield which is the biggest in Europe.

The water was so still disturbed only by the ripples from the ship.

Some time later parts of the icefield could still be seen. We only have one more port of call which will be Bergen.

Helping with the Holiday Photos.

Yup, we've let mum have the blog again today. I have been helping her post her photos but it is very tiring to make sure she doesn't post too many. Dad got very excited when they reached Norway because he met up with his long lost twin.

Dad and his twin.
Okay mum, it's over to you again.

After a day at sea we reached Norway and the very pretty town of Aalesund. We walked up the hill to the church which had lots of beautiful frescoes. This church was rebuilt after the fire that destroyed most of the town.

When we walked over the hill and down the other side, it brought us to the old harbour.

These old warehouses are amongst the few surviving buildings of the great fire of 1904. Being built of wood, most buildings were destroyed. The town centre was rebuilt in the Art Nouveau style.
Another view of the warehouses with the school on the skyline.

A view taken from the old harbour looking towards the rebuilt town.

All the buildings are post 1904 and built in the Art Nouveau style.

View of the town from the ship. The church is on the skyline on the left and the school in the centre.

We had a good send off by the tug boat.

Our last view of Aalesund as we headed towards Geiranger.
I have been asked several questions about the various photos and will try and answer them next week.