The Aftermath...

So I had originally planned to blog each day about the events which occurred but last night was a little skewed.

Our day began as normal yesterday and we ate breakfast and attended 2 lectures in the morning and one after lunch. Once we completed our third lecture Sofia and I hit the town, we opted out of the Mini Cooper Factory tour since there was limited space and decided to explore Oxford. We visited the church which Mike's parents were married in, St. Aloysius, and it was absolutely beautiful. For a small church it is still huge, definitely not the 8 x 12 office space which we have back home.

After St. Aloysius we made our way to St. Mary's where we intended to climb to the top of the clock tower and look over the whole city. It was absolutely amazing and on the way we were confronted with a Bollywood movie shoot which we observed for a short bit. Definitely weird that the first time I would encounter that would be here rather than home. After viewing the city from one of the best views in town we crossed high street to the official University of Oxford shoppe.

We loaded up on goodies and gifts for the family and made our way down High Street investigating the clothing shops. There so many pretty things it was hard to be good but we were. We finally settled on a place to eat, The Living Room, which is right next to Oxford Castle. One of the best places I have ever eaten! They also had my favorite dessert of Sticky Toffee Pudding which I thoroughly enjoyed after my 21 day aged fillet, yum. After dinner the best part of our adventure began we made our way back to Worcester College to drop off our purchases and then made it over to the Eagle and Child which is one of the old stomping grounds of CS Lewis and JR Tolkien.

 Was extremely small and we enjoyed a bottle of wine where we met two American students from the east coast.

We then began our pub crawl which was not planned at all. We stopped at The Bear and The Kings Arms, then hit the night clubs on Park End. We met a group of gentlemen celebrating a chap's birthday at The Bear and we tagged along with them for the rest of the evening.

Definitely fun to hang out with the locals and enjoy some brews. The nightclubs were fun but I believe I enjoy the pubs a bit more. We went to Wahoos and ended our night at The Bridge. All in all it was a fantastic evening and I am paying for it today. 

We are off to London now!

Wait for Me!

Today was the third day of my adventures here in Oxford and it has continued to be a blast. We began our day with lecture again and today's speaker was by far my favorite. Leslie de Chernatony was a bubbly little man, as he was very animated and he gave great insight into the branding of a product.

Following our coffee break we were greeted by Eric Thun who took us step by step into the Chinese Economy. He brought the perspective of doing business in China into a whole new light and created an understanding of the political system within China.

After Mr. Thun was finished with his lecture we headed to lunch where we had BBQ Pork Loin, potatoes and zucchini.

We quickly wrapped up lunch and made our trek to Blenheim Palace. The grounds were beyond gorgeous, we were not allowed to take pictures within the palace but we took plenty from the outside. Here are a few depicting the entrance and the courtyard.

After conducting a tour through the home (birthplace of Winston Churchill) we went outside to the grounds. The lawn here is immaculate just miles of green and the family stopped a creek to fill up the valley into a lake as you see it above. The exit to the palace is through the gift shop however when I went to purchase my gift the clerk took 15 minutes and I nearly missed my bus. Thankfully they noticed I wasn't there yet and waited. :/ Our events of the evening however were not over yet, we attended evansong at Christ Church at 6:00 pm. The choir was beautiful and the church was absolutely gorgeous. Definitely a thumbs up even if you are not Catholic by faith. 

After we went to evansong we made our way to the dining hall which inspired the movie Harry Potter as this was the school which Hogwarts based its dining hall off of. It was closed and a group was dining there so we were instantly asked to leave but we all got pictures anyway.

Dr. Jasso made a recommendation of a local pub called the Head of the River which was literally on the bank of the Thames River in Oxford. We enjoyed some fish and chips and brew and then made our way back to campus.

I wanted to have something sweet and the dessert menu at the Head of the River just wasn't cutting it so I went with 4 others back to the Four Candles and we all ordered dessert. Earlier in the week I had spied Sticky Toffee Pudding on the menu and have been dying to go back and try it. Ever since enjoying it at 29 at the Rivera in Palm Springs I have wanted it again.

For those who have not heard of it, it is a warm cake with butterscotch sauce surrounded by a warm pool of custard (by far one of the best desserts ever). The picture below does not do it justice.

I turned in early this evening, hence the reason that this was posted the morning of the next day.

Today Sofia and I are going to explore Oxford while the others go on the Mini Tour, we are genuinely looking forward to our adventure and much more fun is definitely going to ensue.

May I have a lager and black please???

Today was the beginning of our academic adventure. Our first lecturer was Stuart Kewley who spoke with us about European Institutions and Markets and The Single European Market and the Euro Crisis. It was a fantastic lecture which gave us much insight as to how the EU was formed and how Britain has played a part.

After our fabulous lunch of Lamb, Mint & Pea Pie we proceeded back to the lecture hall for our second lecturer of the day, Mr. John Knights who is a local business man who spoke with us about The Leadership Development Journey. This lecture definitely gave me insight about how I respond to others and how this affects the relationship one has with co-workers or employees.

Once this lecture adjourned we proceeded back to our rooms where we changed into casual wear to conduct a walking tour of Oxford. Once again this location is gorgeous. I cannot believe how rich the history is here!
Our tour began with Mr. Ted East who was a magnificent guide, he once was a police officer here in Oxford and later became the Marshal for the University of Oxford.

 After our tour conluded I headed to the local pharmacy to buy a flat iron because the appliances I have do not work with the current here (except my hair dryer that works). I was over it so I got a UK iron.

I then came back to do my hair and headed off to dinner with our group, yes all 33 of us, to the local Italian restaurant, Strada.

We had a large group so we had a prix fixe dinner where we had an appetizer, entree and dessert (best tiramisu ever!) for 17 pounds, the wine was extra but we had to have it lol. All in all it was a good meal! We then headed back to the room for another night on the town. Our first stop was Turf Tavern. This tavern is one of the more famous taverns here as it is the setting for the show Inspector Morris, I have no idea what that show is of course but that was what we were told. This tavern is from the 13th century, yes 13th Century! tavern. I still am reeling how old these places are its crazy.

We had a beer here then headed out to find a night club. A few of us weren't keen to that idea so we decided to go back to the Four Candles where we were the night before and ended our night relaxing and going over the days events. Definitely another long day with lots of events but tomorrow will be even more exciting as we are going to the birthplace of Winston Churchill, Blenheim (pronounced Blen-em) Palace.

Always a good thing when you wake up to find money in your pocket...

So tonight is the close to the first night in lovely Oxford, England. I absolutely love it here, I honestly would consider living here if I had the option (or funds, our exchange rate sucks).Today was a lovely day not much over 50 degrees and not a gray cloud in sight! Which is great because I conveniently forgot to pack an umbrella. Our breakfast was McDonald's where we could get free WiFi but after that we made our way to Oxford and enjoyed a Cornish Pasty (pronounced like "in the past" with a y). Definitely one of the greatest things I have ever tasted (Thanks Robbie), it is kind of like a fancy hot pocket with beef, potatoes, and onions.

After our adventure to the local open air market and devouring our pasties we headed back to explore the grounds which are absolutely amazing.

 This is the backside of the actual college. Everywhere you look there is absolute beauty, lush and green. To the left of this is a pond which serves home (or holiday) for some lovely water foul.

After watching these these gracious birds and roaming the grounds it was time for orientation. We met Chris Day who is our coordinator/lecturer here at the college who introduced us to the history of the University of Oxford and its 38 associated colleges. It was an interesting lecture but the day began to catch up to me and I began to doze off just a bit. By that time I was starving and had to eat so we headed to our rooms briefly and then made our way to the dining hall.

We were served Pea and Butternut Squash Risotto

Followed by Corn Fed Chicken with Pancetta, Coccotte Potatoes, and Mixed Beans (forgot to take a photo but it was delicious!)

Then finally dessert came, definitely not my favorite but it was good, Apple & Cinnamon Tart with Clotted Cream

Overall a great way to end the day, we then headed to the college bar where I indulged in two Lager and Blacks (a lager with black currant syrup added). This is by far my favorite beer ever, its sweet and delightful.

We decided as a group that we would proceed to a local pub where it wasn't a private event and we could enjoy the local culture, thus we headed to The Four Candles, where I enjoyed a Carling Lager. This was the final chapter to the long day but it was well worth it.