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Snap Shot Stacey - Stacey Hatton

Stacey

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About Me:

I'm a 25 year old Aussie who's been dreaming of traveling Europe since I was about 14. What took me so long? Good question. Too much dreaming and not enough doing. But I've decided it's time to finally start living my dreams! The rest of the world seems so exciting and exotic to me that I can't wait to be a part of it!

I'm a Melbourne girl born and bred, and it´s definitely a beautiful city and a fantastic place to live. Three years ago I finished uni where I studied Creative Arts (theater and writing) and Teaching. I'm a fully qualified teacher, so I'll be teaching in England for about 3 months over their winter.

The Plan

Base myself in England, work there for a while, then travel around Europe. Because I'm far from rich I recon I'll be staying at Youth Hostels most of the time. I'm not going to set myself a time limit for this experience , I just want to go with the flow and come home when it stops being fun or I'm broke. I'm hoping to be away for at least a year.

Date I Left Australia: September 2nd, 2009.

Highlights so far: Watching the opera Notre Dam di Paris at Verona's old roman amphitheatre. And of course meeting heaps of new people during my travels has also been a wonderful experience!

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Joined on: January 5th 2009
Last Login: November 19th 2009

Blog Entries: 30
Photos: 357
Recommended by 3

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Blogs & Travel Journals

by Snap Shot Stacey, order by Date newest first.

By Snap Shot Stacey
November 12th 2009

Aix-en-Provence Europe » France » Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur » Aix-en-Provence

In Cezanne's studio

When I first walked down the main boulevard of Aix-en-Provence I thought to myself 'Ah, so HERE's France'. Sadly, apart from that one street, Aix wasn't as pretty or quintissentially french as I'd been led to believe. Also, because tourist season was over, a lot of the things worth visiting were closed. I did get to see the artist Cezanne's studio though! I'm not totally mad about his art but it was quite amazing to look down at a table and statue which are depicted in so many of his still lifes. What really struck me though was the paint smeared [View Full Entry]

By Snap Shot Stacey
November 10th 2009

Marseille Europe » France » Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur » Marseille

Vieux Port

Ah Marseille. A city where motorbikes think footpaths are roads and dogs think they're toilets. (You seriously wouln't believe the amount of dog poo I've seen traipsed along the streets here.) It's a pretty city from on high looking across it, but walking around it isn't the most pleasant of experiences. And can you believe as I was walking through a park a totally normal looking guy turned around and decided a particular bush looked like a great urinal. He was in full view of everyone in the park and on the road! Weird. One of the first things I noticed [View Full Entry]

By Snap Shot Stacey
November 8th 2009

Bordeaux (pity I don't like red wine much) Europe » France » Aquitaine » Bordeaux

Ponte de Pierre Bridge
Over the river Gironde.

I can see why Bordeaux is now an Unesco World Heritage Site. It's stunning! Lots of 18th century architecture and a beautiful river to walk along which is particularly nice as the suns's setting. Sadly it was raining buckets the whole time I was in Bordeaux, so things looked a bit grey (actually kind of reminded me of London). The city is known for its wine, but alas I only drank the cheapest plonk I could find so I can't comment on its quality! I stayed with my second ever Couch Surfing host Maxime and his flat mate Paul. They are [View Full Entry]

By Snap Shot Stacey
November 5th 2009

Lourdes Europe » France » Midi-Pyrénées » Lourdes

Inside Lourdes Cathedral
Love the fabric. That's a new one. There were stunning marble pillars here also.

I went to Lourdes because I wanted to visit the caves and to a day tour to the Pyrenees as mentioned online. However, when I arrived these (and nearly all other attractions) had closed 4 days before I arrived. Apparently 'through November' doesn't actually INCLUDE November. But that's okay because it was interesting eing in a tourist town when there are no tourists. Usually people flock here on a pilgrimage to see the Grotto where Saint Bernadette supposedly saw 'the immaculate conception' appear to her eight times. (I find it astounding that a whole towns prosperity and trade is still based [View Full Entry]

By Snap Shot Stacey
November 1st 2009

Toulouse in the rain Europe » France » Midi-Pyrénées » Toulouse

Inside the Capitole 2

My first day in France wasnt exactly a smooth one. The train I wanted was cancelled and the one which followed terminated one stop before the station where I needed to catch a connecting train. So myself and about 20 others were left stranded in a one taxi town only 5 minutes train ride from where we actually wanted to be. Madness! 2.5 hours later me and two boys from Ballarat finally made it to Cerrbere station. Then we got to hang around there for another 1.5 hours for another connecting train (because of course we'd missed the first one). Eventually, [View Full Entry]

By Snap Shot Stacey
October 30th 2009

Girona, my last stop in Spain Europe » Spain » Catalonia » Girona

Girona's Famous Wall

I headed off to Girona on the fervent recommendation of Loriane from Canada (who I met in Madrid). Its a fairly small town with a long wall stretching across half of it which you can walk along. You really know that youre in the Catalanian region once you get here because the signs are written in Catalan and the people typically speak it. Spanish phrasebook out the window! Despite officially being part of Spain now, the Catalonian people definitely do NOT consider themselves Spanish. In fact I saw a tshirt that said Catalania is NOT Spain! and they were trying to [View Full Entry]

By Snap Shot Stacey
October 27th 2009

Toledo, a jewellery lovers paradise Europe » Spain » Castile-La Mancha » Toledo

Hand Made Jewellery

If you love unusual jewellery and swords you will love Toledo. Originally Spain's capital city (until conquered by the Moors in the 8th century) it's now full of shops, all selling the same kinds of things to tourists BUT it is definitely a beautiful town in its own right. It's interesting to discover Toledo's Jewish, Moorish and Christian history. Such a range! The Jewish museum from 1366 is very interesting (and actually has lots of stuff written in English, which seems to be unusual in Spanish museums). I loved some of the old costumes and the film showing a traditional Jewish [View Full Entry]

By Snap Shot Stacey
October 27th 2009

Barcelona (aka where Stacey learnt to love Expressionist architecture) Europe » Spain » Catalonia » Barcelona

Me on my 'throne'
And thoroughly enjoying a blues busker nearby

Barcelona is known for its night life but also for its fabulous Gaudi architecture (and still incomplete cathedral designed by him). Now Im someone whos always loved more traditional styles but Im officially a convert. Whilst La Segrada Familia (the aforementioned work in progress) was a total waste of money to enter, it was awesome from the outside. Its nice to finally see a cathedral which doesnt mirror all the others. Park Guell is also famous because of this brilliant man (and its free!). Originally intended as a private garden for the rich, things didnt quite go according to plan with [View Full Entry]

By Snap Shot Stacey
October 25th 2009

Madrid Europe

The Crystal Palace

Madrid, home of the famous Real Madrid soccer team (they MUST be famous if I know who they are!) and and a suprising quantity of art. Naturally I began my visit at The Prado art gallery, one of the best in the world. I was very excited to see The Garden of Earthy Delights by Bosch because I'd written about it in an assignment in uni and always found the hell panel facinating. There's also a large collection of Goya's works but to be honest with you I didn't think they were anything startling. I spent at least two hours exploring [View Full Entry]

By Snap Shot Stacey
October 21st 2009

A day in Gibraltar Europe » Gibraltar » Gibraltar

Gibraltar from Spain

Adding to my list of countries that I've visited we set out on a 3 hour drive from Spain to Gibraltar. After making it through the crazy passport control que Gaynor and I headed to Morrisons to stock up on tasty English products you can't get in Spain. After offloading all our stuff in the car we wandered on down to Casemates Square where the first sign that greeted me said 'Glassblowing'. I couldn't believe my good fortune! Here I am on a mission to buy one glass item for my collection from each country I go to and the first [View Full Entry]