The beautiful region of Campania in southern Italy features two gems that enable us to spotlight daily life during the Roman period – Pompeii and Herculaneum. The fact that these archaeological sites are so well preserved – possibly more so than any other in Europe – on account of a natural disaster has a horrific, spine-chilling side to it. This somehow magnanimous tragedy was caused by the eruption of Mt Vesuvius on 24 August in AD 79, which buried in lava and ashes these two localities, which became frozen in time forever, or at least for many centuries. Nowadays both sites are places of pilgrimage for tourists, bystanders and scholars eager to find out more about Rome’s past.

Pompeii

Prior to forming part of the Roman Empire, Pompeii (Pompei, in Italian) was a Greek and Samnite settlement. In AD 62 it was struck by a terrible earthquake, which left part of the city in ruins. Interestingly enough, some remains from that time reveal Pompeii in the throes of reconstruction, as evinced in the Temple of Jupiter, or the plaques on some buildings featuring the names of benefactors who had helped fund the repair work. Unfortunately, their efforts were in vain, as the eruption of Vesuvius led it all to be smothered in lapilli, causing the death of the entire population and rendering Pompeii uninhabitable.

The city fell into oblivion until it was rediscovered and excavated in 1748 under Charles III of Spain, also known as Charles VII of Naples. Initially, the excavations were only intended to salvage valuable objects, which were then incorporated into the royal collection. Over time, however, the endeavours took on a more professional guise and archaeological work on the site continues even today. Stories from the past are still being unearthed, while work to preserve the ruins is ongoing.

A tour of Pompeii should be taken calmly. The itinerary usually takes about 3 to 4 hours and our first recommendation is to wear sturdy footwear and, should you visit the site in summer, to avoid the peak sunlight hours and wear sun protection. And, of course, to get the most out of your visit, it is advisable to secure a guide, who will orientate you and point out the various areas, or at least an audio guide. But, it is well worth the effort, as the itinerary is full of stories, anecdotes and a number of surprises. One such titbit is The House of the Tragic Poet, where in the vestibule you can see a mosaic with the inscription, Cave Canem (Beware of the Dog)! Or the risque frescoes in the changing rooms of the Underground Thermae, with sexually explicit scenes. Other thermae, known as the Stabian Baths, reveal a sophisticated system of heating using hot air, which circulated between the walls under the floor.

Be sure to visit the Villa dei Misteri, one of the most important buildings in the whole complex. A noteworthy feature of the interior is the stunning Dionysiac frieze, a series of frescoes depicting the rituals of initiation into the “bridal mysteries”. Another house, the House of the Vettii, one of the most luxurious in the city, boasts some excellent frescoes, some of which depict trompe l'oeil views of architecture.

Herculaneum

While Pompeii is more popular among visitors and covers a larger area, the best preserved ruins are to be found in Herculaneum (Ercolano, in Italian). This is true of the houses which in some cases are two-storeys buildings. In this instance the houses were both buried by and preserved for posterity by the pyroclastic flow of the eruption. Excavations got under way in 1738 and the finds unearthed here exerted a marked influence on Neoclassicism. Among the many that came to light in 1980 in the rooms or fornici were over 200 skeletons of people of all ages and social status huddled under archways who were burned by the heat given out by the volcano. Interestingly, they had taken refuge from the disaster with their most valuable belongings in harbour warehouses.

Herculaneum was smaller in size than Pompeii and excavations have revealed mainly houses, most of them with magnificent mosaics, as in the House of the Mosaic Atrium, the House of Neptune and Amphitrite and the House of the Skeleton. Other landmarks include the male and female bath houses which have yielded considerable details about life during those times.

National Archaeological Museum

We recommend rounding off your tour of those sites by a visit to the National Archaeological Museum in Naples, which houses a large part of the objects, frescoes and mosaics excavated at both Pompeii and Herculaneum.

Treat yourself to a getaway to Naples and travel back in time to Pompeii and Herculaneum.

Text by Los Viajes de ISABELYLUIS

Images by Pablo Cabezos, Andy Hay, Carlo Mirante, momo, Citi-zen, Aleksandr Zykov, Rachel Bickley, Amphipolis

Situated at the western tip of Lake Geneva and very near the French border lies the unique city of Geneva. Considered by some to be the land of precision watches, and by others as a leading centre of diplomacy – the seat of the UNO is located here – Geneva has a number of surprises in store which make an escape there worthwhile. Here, then, is a selection of not-to-be-missed venues on your visit to the “capital of peace”.

1. An Enormous Water Jet As a Symbol
The “Jet d’eau” (Jet of Water) is the symbol of Geneva par excellence. It spurts 140 metres into the air and is located at the point where Lake Geneva empties into the river Rhone. You cannot possibly leave the city without having at least caught a glimpse of what is one of the largest fountains in the world.

2.City of Peace
Geneva is known as the “city of peace” as it was there that the League of Nations was founded in 1920. Be sure to go inside the premises of what is the second most important headquarters of the UNO (the main one is in New York), as you will be amazed by the artworks and the history contained within its walls. Just opposite stands a building which houses another important institution also founded here – the Red Cross. Inside you will live out a unique experience as far as humanitarian activity is concerned.

3. Land of Master Watchmakers
Any clock buff knows that Geneva is a major centre of luxury watch production and it is extremely easy to find places associated with watchmaking in the city. First, there are all the shops selling the big brands. Then, there are the clocks in the guise of landmarks around town, notably the “Horloge Fleurie” (Flower Clock), sited in the Englischer Garten (English Garden), which reveals the passage of time through its floral adornment. Also worth seeing is the Passage Malbuisson Clock where figures come out and parade to the sound of music when the clock strikes the hour. Lastly, you can visit the Patek Philippe Museum which showcases the brand’s finest creations.

One option that features most of these elements is the Geneva Watch Tour, a different way of sightseeing the city. The tour highlights the link between watchmaking and the history of Geneva.

4. Calvin’s City
An alternative way of exploring Geneva’s huge historic city is by tracing the footsteps of one of the most illustrious figures of Protestantism, Calvin, who managed to transform the city into a “Protestant Rome” in his time. This exciting journey through history includes a visit to the Calvin Auditorium, St Pierre Cathedral and the Reformation Wall.

5. Lake Geneva – the Paramount Leisure Area
Like any lakeside city, this is one of Geneva’s main leisure precincts, particularly with the arrival of the good weather. You can have a pleasant e-bike ride along the lake shores or take a fun pedalo ride with family or friends on the lake itself. Other options on the lake waters include windsurfing, stand up paddle boarding or hanging out at les Bains des Pâquis, Geneva’s “city beach”, a meeting point in both summer and winter. Whatever you decide on, you’re sure to have fun!

6. A Stiff Shot of Culture
The Quartier des Bains, site of MAMCO (Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain), the Centre d’Art Contemporain and numerous art galleries is a must-visit spot for art lovers. The area also boasts a lively night-life for those seeking to round off their great day of sightseeing in the city.

7. Carouge – Bohemian Geneva
Located just a few kilometres from Geneva and separated from it by the river Arve, Carouge is a small city whose streets are uniquely evocative of the Mediterranean. Its singular appearance was provided by the Dukes of Savoy, who commissioned Italian architects to build the city. In addition to its remarkable architecture, Carouge is renowned for its numerous antique and craft shops and its charming café terraces, and all this just a tram ride from downtown Geneva!

8. Cocktails With a View
A great way to wrap up a long sightseeing day in Geneva is by dropping in on the city’s trendy locales, where the view plays an important role, as do their cocktails and culinary offerings. You could head for the Rooftop 42 terrace, with its highly sophisticated atmosphere, or La Potinière, located in the heart of the English Garden.

Text by Tourism Geneva

Paris is the city of artists and art lovers, a source of inspiration for writers, the capital of fashion, a classic venue for romantic escapades, the epitome of a chic metropolis and a beacon for gourmets, as well as a long list of etceteras. It is one of those places that never let you down when you get to visit them and which has something for everyone, be that the shop windows of luxury stores in the Place Vendôme, enjoying a glass of wine in Le Marais or soaking up the ever-lively atmosphere in the square where the Pompidou Centre is located. Although – we have to admit – the city is a little on the dear side, it is, however, suitable for all audiences and all tastes, and well worth a getaway, however brief that may be.

Paris In Two Days?

We regret having to disappoint you but you cannot see Paris in all its splendour in one go – you simply have to return. However, you can squeeze quite a lot into a well-planned, 48-hour stint in the “City of Light”. The most important thing is to limit the number of areas and monuments you aim to visit, organise your time properly and avoid panicking if you can’t get it all done, which is likely to happen.

Worth Noting

Don’t be shy about being a guiri in Paris. We recommend you take the tourist bus as your first way of coming into contact with the city. As you won’t be able see all the sights on foot, the bus at least gives you an idea of what there is, and the places you see along the route will help you choose where you would like to go back for a visit.

For sightseers, one of the essential activities is touring the banks of the river Seine and its magnificent bridges. Not for nothing were they listed as World Heritage by UNESCO. So, strike out on a boat ride along the river – towards evening is the best time to see it.

To avoid long hikes across the city, be sure to book strategically placed and – above all – well connected accommodation.

Essentials

Following is a list of the places you should seriously consider visiting when planning your short stay in Paris:

- An infallible classic is a walk along the Champs Élysées, from the Tuileries Garden to the Arc de Triomphe. From there, you stroll down towards the Trocadero gardens and cross the Seine to behold the city’s best known landmark, the Eiffel Tower.

- Go to the Île de la Cité where you can see two other beacons of the French capital –Notre Dameand the Sainte-Chapelle, a Gothic jewel with a stunning interior, thanks to its spectacular stained glass windows. While you are in this area, head for the Pont Neuf, which affords splendid views of the city and the Seine.

- Stroll along the narrow streets of Montmartre, also known as the “artists’ quarter”, and go up to the church of Sacré Cœur. Nightlife addicts can take a night-time stroll through the Place Pigalle, famed for its cabarets, especially the popular Moulin Rouge.

- Art lovers will be hard put to make choices on such a short getaway. You can easily spend a whole morning wandering among the vast array of masterpieces in the Louvre, so we would be more inclined to head for the Rodin Museum,as your expectations will be amply met by both the exhibition areas and the museum gardens. The Musée d'Orsay, with its 19th-century artworks, the Musée de l'Orangerie, with its Impressionist paintings, and the Pompidou Centre, featuring an excellent repertory of modern and contemporary art, are also good options, as long as you restrict the areas you intend to visit.

- Have a walk around the Place Vendôme, its centre presided over by a column modelled after Trajan’s Column in Rome, where you will find the leading luxury stores in Paris.

- Trend-seekers would do well to include Le Marais in their itinerary, as this is the city’s trendy district par excellence. Here you will find the most fashionable designer stores, art galleries, bars and restaurants.

Succumb to the delights of one of Europe’s most beautiful cities – book your Vueling here.

Text by Los Viajes de ISABELYLUIS

Images by Sean X. Liu

By Marco Fiocchi – RondoneR (Travelblog.it and Vistamondo.com)

When Francesco, my boss, called me, I was driving in a hot, chaotic, hectic late morning in the center of Rome.

The proposal to join the blog tour challenge of Vueling, flying on one of the Baleares islands in search of unexplored places, strikes me as a lightning. I am thrilled: Vueling Loves Islands is a beautiful challenge. And I am proud of being chosen to represent travelblog.it for Blogo.

Lovely Elisa Casagrande informs me that my island shall be Menorca. She prepares everything. Flight and hotel. It ‘s great. The island I wanted more. The only one I’ve never seen and I longed to visit. I’ll have plenty of freedom. I’ll be alone. A dream comes true.

I landed in Menorca on Saturday night. The airport is located in the south, also very close to my hotel, which is in S’Algar, just above the most popular beaches and tourist interests.

I immediately decided to rent a car. Menorca is not small, but not even huge So if I wanted to see enough I should own a transport. A motorcycle was really good but I had different equipment. As for the bike I needed more time, and more lungs …

Sunday morning I ventured at once on the south side. As I mentioned, the beaches in this part are very beautiful, but also quite popular. And the tourist building has not always respected the natural setting of the place.

In my tour’s beginning thanks to the dawn, I could enjoy almost single Playa de Punta Prima (where I greeted the sun rising from the sea), Cala de Binibeca and Cala Biniancolla. The Poblat de Pescadors (Binibeca Vell) is particular for the style of the white village. A little artificial, but with a nice mini port.

Going on I met Cala d’Es Canutells, Cales Coves and the beautiful Cala’n Porter, probably the most fascinating bay of the coast. The colour of the water from the mirador, is incredible. It looks as if it’s fake. I do not have time to visit the great cave (Cova d’en Xoroi) that all I say unique.

I move again. Need to return inland to reach other beaches, so I have time to do a hike in one of the many prehistoric sites of the island. Torre d’en Galmés. Such as Sardinia (with Nuraghi) indeed, Menorca preserves several megalithic structures. Talayotic period, which derives from talayot​​, stone structures, which together with the taula and navetas make a great archaeological heritage.Only Thinking here lived our prehistoric ancestors rendered the earth a little ‘more mother. It ‘s strange. It is fascinating.

But it is time to return to the beaches, now I’m a beach blogger. I go down to San Bou, the longest coastline of the island. A spectacular stretch of white sand of 3 km, ruined by a horrible hotel in the east.

The water is turquoise and clear. Crystalline. Almost beside San Bou there is Sant Tomas, with a series of bays, one more beautiful than the other. Vegetation that reaches the coast, red rocks, white beaches, blue water. I can’t resist and give in to the first swim. Divine.

I went down on the camin de ronda which is starting from the first beach and runs along the coast. So I realize now that I’m surrounded by nudists. Actually everywhere on the island. Of all ages. Along with normal people wearing bath suits, many families and a host of children. No one stamps his feet, or be offended. If heaven exists, this placev really looks like.

After having dried, against my will, against the Spanish siren song singing to me to put up a tent inviting me to stay and live here, I left and reached my coche (now I understand why they call it here, the car, because when you let it under the sun, then it “cooks” …).

I have to discover even more places “unexplored”, I was not even Indiana Jones, but this is a race, definitely my rival bloggers have done the same. So arriving at Cala Santa Galdana. Pleasant turquoise baia raped by big hotels and factories.

Here I decide the best thing is to take a boat, one of the many tours who lets you spy on beaches and coves unreachable in a few hours, unless you are a Rambo hounded by vietkong. I go for a ride of three hours. The company is called “Amigo’s”. A “Glass Bottom Boat” who has only a small glass bottom next to the engine, so you can watch only the splash. Cost 15 euros. I can make it.

Very good choice. I can admire from the sea beautiful places, such as Fustam Cala, Cala Escorsxada, the natural arch with the legend of the pirate hidden ship, Cala Mitjana, the beautiful Cala’n Turqueta and the famous Cala Macarella and Maccarelleta, these ones too besieged by boats and yachts. Are they trendy for nudists? But in a boat aren’t you runningaround always naked?

We can swim round the lovely Cala Trebaluger, complete with water slide that shoots you do not know where. When we return the crew offer us an ignoble gin lemon into a lemonade bottle with a funny straw. I understand it’s a tradition, but is seasickness.

May be in the evening I will find out the cause for this tradition, arriving in Ciutadella, Menorca’s second city, not only geographically opposed to Maò, which is the capital, and I will visit the next day.

On 24 June, in fact, is St. John. And here’s a holiday in the country, for the patron saint San Juan de Ciutadella. I immediately understood it because I sensed many caballeros on horseback, all dressed up, including horses.

Rivers of that Anglo-Saxon drink mixed with the local lemon, rain over the picturesque village with the elegant buildings that becomes a sort of big arena for the passage of horses. I’m too tired to attend the various shows, I just go against the crowd, and then I sit down at the restaurant. The most famous one: S’Amarador. I want to taste the dish: caldereta de llagosta.

A soup of lobster stew with bread to eat. I’m sorry for the poor animal that comes alive proudly displayed. But the flavour is exceptional. In the night I run away from the port now besieged by people from the passage of the knights. Above me even a shooting star, but a quilted starry sky. One sees clearly the Milky Way. I almost stop here, I get lost in silence and peace.

The morning after is harder to get up early. A new day in Menorca. The hunt continues. This time I promise to search really the most unexplored places. So after scouring the southern side of the island, probably the most touristic, I headed to north. Crossing diagonally Menorca I notice that the vegetation changes going north. The island is still very green, but here above all. And it’s funny to see white farmhouses, amid bales of hay, grazing cows and lush palm trees.

In a short time I’m at Fornells, the village of the central north coast, in which gulf sailing and mini racing colouring the sea. The village is nice and peaceful, suitable for tourists in search of quiteness. I find a wi-fi hot spot (it’s not so easy in whole island) and I send some pictures around for # MyVuelingCity or to Facebook for Travelblog.it. But it’s already time to leave. Towards Cap de Cavalleria. The northern most point of Menorca.

While ascending, the coast becomes barren, rocky. Red sands and green fields which look like mountain. The sea is always blue. I wish to be Gauguin to paint these horizons. I try with my camera. But I’m not so good…

When I’m close to the lighthouse of Es Cobròmbol, I see on my left a small creek. I left the road and go down a road of orange stones. I do very well. There is a small bay looks like a natural pool. Three beaches in the midst of dark rocks. The smallest one is finally my very private corner of paradise. I can not help it, I’m totally bare. Nudist to the goal. So do I. Now I understand why Menorca iis devoid of any social superstructure.

The only poor witnesses of this naturist epiphany are very nice locals. There are many goats with me! Free and not in difficulty on the sharp rocks. They look tolerant even though I think I’m Colombo kissing the shoreline. What a great place, I want to stay here..

Instead, the duty (is there one more pleasant?) calls me. I reach the lighthouse. Watch Fornells from the promontory. There is a strong wind. On the way back I stop, however, in the most famous beach of the area. Platja de Cavalleria (notice I always use the Catalan language, here it’s like the Holy Bible). A road descends to a fiery red terrace overlooking this tropical half moon. Amazing. But there is “too many” people for me, now I’m used to the wilderness..

On the right of the playa there is a cala even more beautiful. Cala Torta. It seems the Reef. From above I have the feeling of being in Hawaii, but without 24 hours’ jet lag on my shoulders.

I place myself in the car, I still have 3,4 hours before going to catch my return flight that leaves in the evening by Maò to Barcelona. So I decide to point north east. I’m sorry for what I cannot see to my left, the islanders advised me about Cala del Pilar and Cala Algairen, before reaching the famous Cala Morell. But I would never have time to walk so much. Too bad. I’ve lost too much wooing the goats…

Going down clockwise from the south, there are still points delicious, as Cova des Vell Mari or Arsenal Son Saura. But I go to another lighthouse, like in a trip with Virginia Woolf. I am so arrived to Fevarritx Cap. Unusual and moon scenarios. Dark rocks, flat, on a spit of rock bursting from the sea. Cala Presili is the most beautiful, but the whole area is very wild and picturesque.

Now unfortunately my tour ended. There’s only Maò to visit in a hurry after an iced cervesa. Pretty, clean but honestly Ciutadella, despite that funny chaos, it seemed best.

I can return the car. 40 euros for day is not the greatest savings. But if you stay for a week is more convenient. Embarked me on the fly. Vueling wants to surprise me, always on time, even ahead of time. In the same place. The great window 4A. Even during the fly Barcelona to Rome, I admit it without marketing blackmailing. Check those flights if you don’t believe me.

What can I say? It was an amazing experience. I found an island I fell madly in love with, and where I shall return soon. Vueling Thanks! Thanks MyVuelingCity!

By Marco Fiocchi – RondoneR (Travelblog.it and Vistamondo.com)

A place well worth discovering! Check out our flights here.