Mark by the "beach" in Préverenges

Mark by the "beach" in Préverenges, originally uploaded by joellekueng.

Enjoying a walk in the sun and the great view on the mountains

Lac Léman

Lac Léman, originally uploaded by joellekueng.

Also known as the Geneva lake, it changes colors all the time...

View on the Lac Léman

View on the Lac Léman, originally uploaded by joellekueng.

These beautiful autumn colors... this is the view going down to the lake in Préverenges, where I live

Hiking...

Hiking..., originally uploaded by joellekueng.

On the way down from the Aletsch, just a nice view... very bright colors that day...

Mark in front of the Altesch glacier

Mark in front of the Altesch glacier, originally uploaded by joellekueng.

Amazing weather, no tourists: what more can you ask? just breathtaking view... if you've never been there and are in Switzerland, don't wait another year!

Blausee

Blausee, originally uploaded by joellekueng.

On the way to the Aletsch, the little Blausee. You can see the Matterhorn (Cervin) in the background, far away

Swiss flag high up in the mountains :)

Swiss flag high up in the mountains :), originally uploaded by joellekueng.

Hiking day in the Alps, going to see the Aletsch glacier (biggest in Europe) with Mark... those pictures were just too beautiful not to be shared :)

My last week-end in Italy: Pompei

I just put up all these pictures, but they're in reverse chronological order, but it doesnt really matter as I made separate comments for each of them.
The last week at work went fast, the goodbyes were nice and the week-end in Pompei was great, except having a big cold. At least it was sunny :)
Now I'm back in Switzerland, started working on my paper in german for university, and next week I'll have two job interviews for law firms. Cross your fingers :)
And Thursday, Mark's coming and he'll stay for two weeks! Lots of library time planned (both have to study... :( ) but as well some nice excursions and activities! Can't wait :)

I still haven't decided whether to keep this blog now that I'm back in Switzerland and dont have much to talk about, but probably for special occasions I'll put up pictures :)

One of the Pompei habitants

One of the Pompei habitants, originally uploaded by joellekueng.

Although most of the habitants had fled Pompei, some of them stayed behind and got cought in the erruption of the Vesuvio (burning ashes). It happened so fast that their bodies got cought in the thick layer of ashes, and when the excavation works began, they found holes with bones, and had the good idea of filling them with concrete before doing anything else. And that's how we now can see this "statues" of the last postures of these people before dying.

Fresque in the Villa of mysteries

Fresque in the Villa of mysteries, originally uploaded by joellekueng.

One of the most amazing paintings in Pompei, both by its colours and the size of the people (usually the paintings are smaller, or with small people on it). And it goes on on the right wall as well.

Me in front of a fresque in Pompei

Me in front of a fresque in Pompei, originally uploaded by joellekueng.

A fresque with lots of blue, which is quite unusual for Pompei, where most of the time the colours are red, yellow and black.

In Pompei with the Vesuvio

In Pompei with the Vesuvio, originally uploaded by joellekueng.

Day three: THE visit of Pompei. It took us 6 hours, including a small 30mn for a sandwich. We really saw everything there is to see, even got the special tickets (which are free) to enter in houses with restricted entrances. Lots of tourists, mainly in big groups, so they all went to the same places.

The Vesuvio and Pompei to the left

The Vesuvio and Pompei to the left, originally uploaded by joellekueng.

In the late afternoon of day 2, we went up on the tower (Campanile) of the church in Pompei city (there was an elevator for one euro), where we got this great view of the Vesuvio and the site of ancient Pompei to the left. You can clearly see the amphitheater.

The Villa of Nero's second wife

The Villa of Nero's second wife, originally uploaded by joellekueng.

A few train stops from Herculaneum you can find Oplontis, where the Villa of Nero's second wife was excavated. It is in perfect state (like Herculaneum, it was caught in a lava stream) with amazing fresques. This painting is almost 2000 years old and look at the colours! You can also see how colorful they painted the inside of the houses, to compensate with the lack of sun (only few windows, and an interior court called the Atrium).

Me in Herculaneum

Me in Herculaneum, originally uploaded by joellekueng.

One of the streets in Herculaneum, where you see how well the buildings were kept (in some parts, even wood). You can enter in many of them, and there's a really good free guide to help you through the visit.

Herculaneum

Herculaneum, originally uploaded by joellekueng.

On the second day we went to Herculaneum, which is like a smaller version of Pompei in better shape, thanks to the fact that it wasn't covered in ashes but buried in hard lava. The buildings are thus very well conserved. A real must if you go to Naples, you see more than in Pompei in less time, and with less tourists.
On the picture you can see the bay of Naples in the background, and the site of Herculaneum from above.

Peastum greek fresque

Peastum greek fresque, originally uploaded by joellekueng.

One of the rare examples of greek paintings, found inside a tomb. On the right you can see two men getting rather intimate, and the on in the middle looking a bit jealous at them :)

Me in front of a temple in Paestum

Me in front of a temple in Paestum, originally uploaded by joellekueng.

To give you an idea of the size of that temple. There were three of them, plus a museum. What's amazing is how well the inside is still preserved as well. And don't forget to imagine that originally, the columns had another layer of stuc on it to make it look like marble, or were painted rather bright with many frescoes as well.

Paestum temple

Paestum temple
Originally uploaded by joellekueng.

My last week-end in Italy: a trip to Pompei with my mom for three days. Originally we had planned to join one of those organized tours, but after realizing that in the end you only get to spend 2 hours in Pompei, and will probably be in a group of old tourists, we just decided to organize our own tour. Well, I did the organization and my mom just followed :)
The first day we went south of Pompei to Paestum, an ancient greek colony with great temples and very rare examples of greek paintings.