oxford.

On Wednesday we headed to the English countryside, namely to Oxford University. And yes, its just as you'd imagine - a quaint English village with a college town feel. We were invited to sit in on a class, part of the MBA Retailing Program. It was taught by two instructors - Jonathan Reynolds, a research professor at Oxford, and Alan Giles, an honorary guest professor and long-time retail executive (He is CEO of FatFace). We assumed it would be interesting, but it blew away our expectations - the class was smart, insightful and full of thought. It was entertaining, engaging and (dare we say it), fun! We loved the participation from all the students (loads of Americans), and their thoughts on the future of retailing. We felt so inspired and educated, we left class and headed straight to the college bookstore to purchase sweatshirts (after all, we did go to Oxford).

While there, we also made time for a quick stop off at the magnificent Blenheim Palace, home to some of the Dukes of Malborough, and one of England's largest residences (it's non-royal, even though it's called a Palace). It was spectacular - so much history, and the most incredible gardens (which have been used in many films including most recently, The Young Victoria!)