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.

Pompei must be one of the most famous archaeological sites in the world. It was buried under a layer of volcanic ash from the eruption of nearby Vesuvius in AD79, and was rediscovered in 1748.