Tim Lynette Wilkins

Tim Lynette Wilkins

traveled in 11 countries Read more

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Not just Pompeii Traveler
Herculaneum, Oplontis and Boscoreale
October 3, 2025 in Italy ⋅ 🌙 12 °C
Another busy day visiting 3 locations close to Pompeii and all buried by the volcanic eruption.

First was Herculaneum which was a town like Pompeii but different. Whereas Pompeii seems to have been a town on the make, Herculaneum seems to be more upper class and relaxed. It also suffered a different fate. Whereas Pompeii was buried under 40 metres of small light pebbles of pumice which suffocated anyone left behind, Herculaneum suffered a pyroclastic flow of superheated ash around 400c that killed anyone instantly. The ash then hardened to concrete but the buildings didn't collapse so the houses still have upper floors and preserved charred wood.

The excavated area is much smaller than Pompeii so we were able to visit most of the open buildings:

House of the wooden screen
Central baths, women's section
House of Neptune
Grocery store with mezzanine and wine racks
Workshop of the metal worker
Arches to forum
College of the Augustales
Central baths, men's section
Grand tavern
House of the telephon
Sacred area
Ancient beach with skeletons of fugitive
House of the stags
House of the artist
House of the black saloon
Samnite house
House of the bronze herm
House of the mosaic atrium and undulating floor
House of the tuscan colonnade
Boat museum
Antequarium/ museum.

Second was a very large seaside villa in Oplontis that is still being excavated. It has a very large swimming pool and many rooms with frescoes in the 2nd style.

Last stop was a small farmhouse where the main product was wine. It also had a lovely museum containing lots of information on daily life including burnt remains of food and drink that has been analysed and identified. It also has on display the bridal carriage recently excavated and restored as seen on a BBC programme.Read more
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Not just Pompeii Traveler
Paestum
October 2, 2025 in Italy ⋅ 🌙 13 °C
Today we drove for an hour and a half south of Pompeii to a Greek town of Paestum. It was first founded in 800bc as a trading settlement and later grew into a planned Greek polis based on an organised grid system of roads. It flourished until overrun by the Lucanians around 400bc and then the Romans a century and a half later. Both adopted Greek culture and preserved much of the Greek monuments.

The main features of the site are 3 magnificent Greek temples still standing to full height - some of the best preserved anywhere. But we were surprised to find that there are many other interesting ruins to see albeit not so well preserved. After Jamie's tour and explanations we spent another hour and a half wandering round on our own.

This area is famous for its buffalo mozzarella so we had to try some for lunch. After lunch we had a couple of hours in the site museum and rewarded ourselves with yummy gelatos.

Yesterday there were thunderstorms and rain which we managed to dodge. Today was sunny again but much cooler and very windy.Read more
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Not just Pompeii Traveler
Back to the museum
October 1, 2025 in Italy ⋅ 🌧 18 °C
We went back to the Naples museum, this time as part of the tour, but they wanted to take ages talking in the huge gallery of pompeii sculpture, which didn't interest us. So we broke off and did it our way. We started in the gallery of roman glass, which was spectacular, then all the frescoes from the temple of Isis, followed by another wander through the main fresco gallery. Then objects of daily life in pompeii, which were really interesting, although anything wooden didn't survive so it was mostly bronze or ironware. There is a gallery of "Magna Graecia" covering the original Greek settlement of the region from 800bc and it's continuing influence on the Romans. Finally we flew through the prehistory section, which is the latest gallery opened but didn't seem very well thought out and presented.

After lunch a tour of underground Naples to see the remains of the medieval city and roman city now several metres below current street level. With streets, roman roads, rows of shops and other buildings you can still walk around.Read more
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Not just Pompeii Traveler
What a day!
September 30, 2025 in Italy ⋅ 🌙 21 °C
Today was all about Pompeii. We started off at 9.00 with an hour's lecture from our archaeologist Jamie Sewell who has excavated here and is very good. We entered the site at 10.00 and got back to the hotel at 5.30 with just 45 min break to eat our packed lunch. It was exhausting but worth every minute. Jamie finished his tour about 3.30 but we couldn't resist popping into a few more houses on our walk back. The mosaics in the Naples museum are better than those left in situ but the frescoes still here are much better as they are just as fine and you can see them in context. And there are so many of them - far more than we were able to see 26 years ago when we were last here. Can't describe them all but for our benefit will try to list the places we saw:

Amphitheatre
House of Julia Felix
House of Menander
Triangular forum
Great theatre
Insula of chaste lovers (still being excavated)
Forum
Forum baths
Villa of the Mysteries (home to frescoes on our bathroom wall)
House of the vetti
House of the faun
House of Marco Lucrezio Frontone
House of Sirico
Stabian baths
Thermopolium of Vertutius Placidus
House of the marine Venus.

We took over 70 photos and plan to go back to see more on Monday after the tour finishes.Read more
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Not just Pompeii Traveler
Arrival in Pompeii
September 29, 2025 in Italy ⋅ 🌙 22 °C
This morning we spent in a huge museum and gallery on top of the hill overlooking Naples, with works by painters like Michaelangelo, Caravaggio, Raphael, and Artemisia Gentileschi. Even though half of it was closed for refurbishing, it still took us a few hours to get round. The museum has a great collection of first class paintings from 13c to 18c from wealthy families like the Farnese and the Bourbon rulers.

After that a local train from Naples to Pompeii, and meeting up with our tour after breakfast in the morning.Read more
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Not just Pompeii Traveler
Museum day
September 28, 2025 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C
Today we spent in the Naples museum, which is a really good museum; well-lit, beautiful artifacts, labels in Italian and English. We were impressed!

We will be going again on our tour so we avoided the pompeii stuff, but there's lots of other things. One floor of Egyptian things which were very good, the Farnese collection of jewels, with lots of cameo work including a spectacular bowl made from red and white striped sardonyx with a white cameo. Then lots of mosaics, some from pompeii, which were the finest we have ever seen, made from tiny, tiny, tessera. We did look briefly at the Pompeii and Herculaneum frescoes to find the ones we have pictures of on our bathroom wall.

One the way back we stopped to see a small excavated section of wall from the pre-roman Greek city of neopolis.Read more
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Not just Pompeii Traveler
Naples the ugly city
September 27, 2025 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C
Piles of rubbish in every corner, and strewn over all the squares, graffiti on every surface, decayed and abandoned buildings, even the entrances of the new metro stations are kicked in and crazed. When we first went to jerez it felt tattered at the edges, and with fallen down, abandoned, buildings. But since then they have worked hard to improve and modernise. Here it feels that it's been this way so long they now just don't care. Very sad.

This morning we walked along Spaccanapoli the street dividing the centre of the city, and visited two churches that sounded interesting. The first, Gesu Nuovo, is a very decorated Jesuit church with rich 16c frescoes everywhere . The second was completely opposite- a very plain austere church with some beautiful modern stained glass in different styles. The church was bombed in 1943 but was rebuilt in the original style. It has a famous cloister covered in colourful 17c majolica tiles - not to our taste but impressive. It has a small bit of original 14c fresco by Giotto or one of his pupils and an excavated Roman bathhouse very ruined.

The next stop was a museum with a fabulous painting by Caravaggio with many other boring paintings.

After lunch we went to the Duomo which contains the oldest baptistry in Europe with wonderful 5c mosaics - like the ones in Ravenna, a 13c church also with mosaics and a chapel with 13c frescoes.

A tiring day among hordes of noisy tourists but worth it.Read more
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A cruise in Croatia Traveler
Last day
June 3, 2025 in Croatia ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C
Our flight home is not till 9.30 this evening so we have arranged a late checkout at 5.
This morning we went to Split Archaeological Museum which holds the moveable finds from Salona and other nearby sites. Unfortunately they are having a special exhibition on monastic sites on the islands and most of the normal collection is inaccessible. The cloisters and garden are full of sarcophagi, tomb stones and other carving which we expected to be dull but turned out quite absorbing.

We will spend the afternoon resting, maybe shopping and eating dinner before going to the airport.Read more
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A cruise in Croatia Traveler
Salona
June 3, 2025 in Croatia ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C
Salona is the largest Roman site in Croatia. Just 10 miles from Split it was the main town and the birthplace of Diocletian. It is enormous and mostly we'll preserved but much has not been excavated. Like elsewhere the material has been reused for later buildings and there is even a house built on the amphitheatre. Yesterday we took a good 2 hours in the hot sun to walk from the top of the site to the bottom, visiting most of the major buildings. Much of the remains are from the 4c Christian period with temples converted to basilica but there are some sarcophagi from Christian martyrs killed by Diocletian at the end of the 3c. The theatre and amphitheatre are earlier - 1c and 2c. It was largely empty - we saw just one tour group walking briskly along the path not entering the buildings. There is not much attempt to make it attractive to tourists, many of the paths are overgrown but at least the explanatory panels were in Croation and English. We enjoyed it.Read more
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A cruise in Croatia Traveler
Split sightseeing 2
June 1, 2025 in Croatia ⋅ 🌙 21 °C
The afternoon session had us return to see the cathedral itself (it was closed in the morning for mass). It was originally built by Diocletian as his mausoleum where he remained for a couple of hundred years before being chucked out when it was converted to a cathedral. The structure is intact with additions in the 7c. Then we went to see the palace cellars which are incredible. Dozens of rooms, large and small, just the service areas of the palace but still beautifully constructed. Some have still not been excavated as they were used as a rubbish dump for centuries. After all this exertion we sat on the harbour front in the sun and had a beer.Read more
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A cruise in Croatia Traveler
Split sightseeing
June 1, 2025 in Croatia ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C
We left the ship at 9.00 this morning not sorry to be back on dry land. I think cruises of any size are just not our thing. We went to our apartment expecting to leave our bags until check in at noon but we're able to check in immediately. It's a lovely light filled room in an old house built against the Roman wall. It has everything thoughtfully provided and our own terrace.

We split the sightseeing into morning and afternoon sessions, returning for a rest in the midday sun. This morning we ticked off the Treasury with some lovely medieval paintings, the cathedral crypt, the vestibule of the palace (where a quartet sang 4 part harmony a capella), Jupiter's temple and the imperial dining room. All of these are basically parts of Diocletian's palace that have been reused without knocking down the original buildings.Read more
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A cruise in Croatia Traveler
Arrival in Split
May 31, 2025 in Croatia ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C
Today is our last day on the boat. The boat is excellent, and all the crew exemplary, however haven't really found the places we went to so interesting. Pretty or even beautiful, but not really interesting. Split however is, so far, much better than I imagined. The centre of the city is Roman emperor Diocletian's retirement palace and most of it is still extant. We just had a short walk around this afternoon, but even that felt good, with massive walls several stories high, and Roman mosaics still in the pavement!Read more
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A cruise in Croatia Traveler
Milna, Brac
May 30, 2025 in Croatia ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C
Today has been a lazy day. Every morning we drop anchor in a bay somewhere for people to swim from the boat. Apart from one day the water has been a bit too choppy for us to enjoy a swim. Today it was particularly rough and breezy so only the strong swimmers went for a dip - mostly Australians.

The village we are moored at is tiny and there is nothing to do here. We walked along the quayside in both directions, visited the church (nothing special) bought Tim a new baseball cap and spent the rest of the afternoon on the boat. Not unpleasant but pretty boring.Read more
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A cruise in Croatia Traveler
Hvar
May 29, 2025 in Croatia ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C
We first came to Hvar in 1971, on something of a special occasion. We liked it so much we came back a few years later. Then it was a rather sleepy Dalmatian town, now its on the superstar and super yacht circuit, so its changed a bit!

We climbed the hill at the edge of town to look through the fort there. It dates to the 12c but with bits going back to the Illyrians in 500bc. It was rebuilt in the 16c after a thunderbolt hit the gunpowder magazine and blew it up. It has great views over the town and out across the islands. We then visited the cathedral and the Franciscan monastery to see the artifacts and art in its museum.

Because of the number on ships trying to get into the port now, ours had to wait for a berth to come free so we had to go to shore in water taxis, but by the time we'd done sightseeing, it was moored, and we could just walk back on board.

These days the town is pretty and attractive, despite the hoards of tourists, with nice Venetian architecture, palm trees and the wide central square.Read more
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A cruise in Croatia Traveler
Vis
May 28, 2025 in Croatia ⋅ 🌬 21 °C
Vis is the Croatian island furthest from the dalmatian mainland. Until recently it was under military control and off limits to the public. Today's trip went around the island looking at the military installations, but we opted out: we've seen enough gun placements and submarine pens. Walked around the town for a bit but there isn't really much to see so made do with an ice cream and a glass of wine overlooking the harbour.Read more
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A cruise in Croatia Traveler
Korcula
May 27, 2025 in Croatia ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C
Korcula is one of the biggest and most populous of the Dalmatian islands. We arrived in time for lunch having had a swim stop on the way. Most people then went off on a ATV tour but we just had a walk around the town. It's called "little Dubrovnik" because of the walls, towers and turrets around it. It's quite small so easy to walk around. We managed to get to the local town museum on the dot of closing time, but they let us have 10 minutes before they closed. We took in the cathedral, and it's Tintoretto altar piece and painting of the annunciation, then the bishops treasury next door with paintings by Dalmatian artists from the 14th century up to the present day. The cathedral is quite small but really nice, and feels very welcoming. On the walk back to the boat we stopped at a bar overlooking the sea and had some local white called Grk. Its only grown and made on this island so quite rare. It's dry but full of flavour rather like an alsace traminer.Read more
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A cruise in Croatia Traveler
Mljet
May 26, 2025 in Croatia ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C
Engines started ar 6.30 so no lie in this morning. We cruised up the coast north of Dubrovnik past the Peljisac peninsula to Mljet - our first island stop. We stopped mid morning in a bay for a swim. The boat was anchored several hundred yards from the shore so it required going down steps at the side of the boat and launching into deep water. We gave it a miss today. Anyway the water is still quite cold. There were 5 other boats all doing the same thing. Then we sailed into the tiny port of Pomena, alongside 7 other boats and had to do the crossing from boat to boat to get to shore - just like on a Nile cruise.

The main attraction here is a National Park with 2 beautiful lakes. We walked round the lake for 45 minutes then got a ferry across to an island in the lake. The island has a 12c church and Benedictine monastery. The church was lovely but the monastery closed for works.

This evening is the Captain's dinner on board so we will have to be sociable.Read more
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A cruise in Croatia Traveler
Embarkation
May 25, 2025 in Croatia ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C
After breakfast we packed up and left the old town of Dubrovnik and took a taxi to the port. Our boat is called Queen Jelena and though only built 6 years ago is in the old style with masts and wood decks. So far everything about the boat is fine. Our cabin is a reasonable size, well fitted and the bathroom isn't poky. It is above deck and has 3 windows rather than portholes. There are only 25 people on the cruise - Americans, Australians and Brits. All greying some older, some younger. None obnoxious so far. The sundeck on top has more sunbeds than passengers so no early towel bagging required. The 3 course lunch was tasty. Only downer is the price of the wine in the bar - London pub prices - and you're not supposed to bring your own on board. We stay in port tonight and sail for our first island in the morning.Read more
Wow, it sounds perfect….shame about the wine but trust that won’t stop you having a great time!! [Eve]
5/28/25Reply
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A cruise in Croatia Traveler
More pics
May 24, 2025 in Croatia ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C
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A cruise in Croatia Traveler
Dubrovnik sightseeing
May 24, 2025 in Croatia ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C
We woke up this morning to beautiful sunshine so had breakfast on our roof terrace. We decided to do the walk around Dubrovnik's medieval walls before it go too hot or too busy so went there first. It is surprising how small the old town is but the walk takes one and a half hours and involves lots of steps up and down. We found it a bit strenuous- we are just not used to stairs these days and, after all, we are getting old.

It is a beautiful setting and it is amazing how they have restored most of the buildings after the extensive damage from Serbian bombing in 1991.

This afternoon we walked around visiting some churches and a monastery . The Dominican monastery contained some art including by titian (which seemed rather poor) and some modern works to replace things destroyed in the war. The church of st. blaise had splendid modern stained glass windows, also replacing destroyed ones. The cathedral has a triptych altarpiece by titian and on each column modern versions of the stations of the cross, which are very simple and very beautiful. The huge jesuit Church of St, ignatius is completely covered in frescoes, except for the modern ceiling which bare - the original having been lost in the Serbian war.Read more
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A cruise in Croatia Traveler
Arrival in Dubrovnic
May 24, 2025 in Croatia ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C
Our journey yesterday was easy. Taxi to Heathrow at 8.30, breakfast porridge at Pret, BA flight at 11.40, arrived on time with a transfer arranged. Our studio room is in the middle of the Old Town above a restaurant but it was surprisingly quiet overnight.

The weather yesterday was cloudy with occasional spots of rain but when we went out for dinner, outdoors under an awning, there was a thunderstorm and heavy rain for 10 minutes. We stayed dry!

As expected Dubrovnik is full of tourists but is still an impressive and interesting place.Read more
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Jerez 2025 Traveler
Malaga in the rain
March 5, 2025 in Spain ⋅ 🌧 16 °C
It was heavily overcast this morning and the air was damp. Undaunted we went to see the Roman theatre- which is very small - and the Alcazaba - which is much bigger than expected. The rain held off until we got to the top of the Alcazaba when a steady drizzle started and hasn't stopped.
Like all Moorish castles and palaces this one had lots of patios with water features and numerous rooms with carved stucco and painted walls. It dates from the 11 - 14 century. Whilst not on the scale of the Alhambra in Granada or Alcazar in Seville it was very pleasant even in the rain.
The other must see here is the Mercado - the market which has been recently restored and is still a vibrant local market full of fish and meats.

This afternoon we spent some time in the Malaga museum. A small museum in the building of the old customs house, but with a modern layout and well documented artifacts, going back to prehistoric times, lots of phoenician and roman material.Read more
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Jerez 2025 Traveler
Arrival in Malaga
March 4, 2025 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C
We left Clive's this morning to drive to Malaga. The power went off again during the night so there was no heating again. Clive's was nice to visit and his food is wonderful but I don't think we will be going again, it's just too primitive for us these days and there is not much to do if the weather isn't good!

We arrived in Malaga in sunshine and enjoyed lunch outside. The hotel in Malaga is right in the central district and next to the Roman theatre and Moorish Alcazaba. Lots to see tomorrow.Read more
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Jerez 2025 Traveler
Iznajar
March 2, 2025 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C
Despite the cold we slept well with cozy duvet and blanket. This morning amazingly was sunny and warm enough for breakfast on the terrace. We drove to the nearest town Iznajar on top of a hill and visited a Moorish castle dating from the 8c. The town was under Moorish rule from Granada until the 15c. They seem very proud of their heritage and it's a nice town. It now overlooks an enormous dam built in the 60s which has become a tourist attraction with watersports and beach. The dam looks much emptier than it has been due to frequent droughts here. The sun lasted till about midday and we are now back to grey skies - but it hasn't rained on us yet!Read more
What a gorgeous breakfast location! [Andy]
3/2/25Reply
What a wonderful setting and lovely photographs. You’ve obviously been having a great time. Lots to reminisce about when you arrive home.Eve [Eve]
3/3/25Reply
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Jerez 2025 Traveler
Antequera dolmens
March 2, 2025 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C
Picked up the car at Jerez airport and drove 2.5 hrs east towards Granada. Our cars at home are old and controlled by buttons and switches. This hire car has a touch screen that controls everything and it's a nightmare to navigate. It took half an hour to get the aircon working properly.

Our first stop was in Antequera a centre of stone age settlement and later a Roman town. Our visit was to 3 stone dolman tombs each then covered with a tumulus. They date from 2500bc to 2000bc so around the time of Stonehenge and the engineering of the stone monoliths is equally impressive.

We arrived at Clive and Maki's finca around 4.00 and it is lovely as it was 15 years ago. Only the local electricity substation developed a fault the night before and can't be fixed till Monday. There is only enough electricity for lighting not heating so the bedrooms are freezing but there is a wood burner in the dining room / lounge so we spent the evening there reading and enjoying Clive's delicious food.Read more
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Jerez 2025 Traveler
Weather continued
February 28, 2025 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C
The weather has been really good this year. Until today we had only had a couple of short showers and one afternoon of rain. Even today there were a few short downpours spread through the afternoon and this evening it is all dry again. We have had plenty of lovely days of warm sunshine and even a few when it got too hot mid-afternoon.

Sadly the forecast for our remaining time is mostly rain. That would be annoying at Clive's place as it's in the middle of nowhere and there's not much to do if you can't go out.

On the way there tomorrow we are going to stop in Antequera to see some prehistoric dolman tombs. We went maybe 17 years ago and they are very impressive- a bit like Mycaenian tombs but older.Read more
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