Once again summer has come and gone and we took another opportunity to visit a place we’ve never been while our daughters were embroiled in wholesome activities at their summer camp in Wisconsin. (I lovingly call it the most expensive food fight!)


We started off our trip in (drum roll please)…Philadelphia! That’s right. I, Jan, have never been to Philadelphia before. Ah, the city of brotherly love proved to be an adventure. The traffic in and out of the city was crazy (perhaps the Infiniti Q56 was not the right vehicle to rent), and the Rocky steps did not disappoint. What better way to take our first college trip than with 83 colleges or universities in the greater Pennsylvania area. We took our son and a friend a few days prior to their soccer recruiting camp to check out the sights and some of the campuses. On the way we hooked up for an awesome sushi dinner with John and Cindy (Bergman) MacManus ’85, who live just outside the city. It was great to laugh together over dinner and drinks and meet their kids, who gave us the lowdown on what to look for, especially with a prospective college athlete.


John, when he’s not writing the ’85 column, is working for J.R. Simplot, Cindy is a doctor and they both looked very happy and healthy.


Once we dropped off our son and his friend at Swarthmore (loved the giant Adirondack chair on the main lawn and my clever Edith Ann photograph), we headed to Cinque Terre in Italy. Though a little tough to get around on my ever-aging knee, no one seemed to mind my ambling as we all gawked at cliff divers and enjoyed a seaside glass (or two) of prosecco.


After Italy we ventured on to Dubrovnik, Croatia, the amazing walled city. Staying just outside the Pile Gate, we enjoyed the ancient architecture, easy access to everything and amazing Adriatic Sea surroundings.


Also on a similar European itinerary was Dave Finn (and his wife, our good friend Amy). Amy writes: “For a week we were in Rome, where we met up with Jonathan Nossiter, who is still making movies and writing about food, wine and politics. He lives in Rome with his wife and three kids. Now we are in Croatia, staying on the island of Vis for a few weeks. Rented a house and a boat with some friends. Spectacular! David had a busy year. He’s been lighting opera, dance and theater. This winter he opened Parsifal at the Met, Arabella at Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Romeo and Juliet at La Scala in Milan and then went directly from Wagner to the king of pop! Opened Michael Jackson One for Cirque du Soleil in Vegas. He’s getting ready to do another few projects in Chicago, Torino, Sydney and Berlin this year and head to China next summer for another big project. Kids are great. Ava is 12 and dancing four days a week. Jack is 9 and a gold star on the Squaw Valley, California, ski team. After years of watching road bikers grind up Mount Tam in Marin, California, we took up road biking a few years ago and we are loving it. I hope we can make it to the reunion next summer, as I feel like the honorary mascot listening to all your stories for so long, and look forward to kicking Chow’s butt in beer pong.”


Bring it on!


—Jan Gordon and Derek Chow, 132 Wildcat Lane, Boulder, CO 80304; (303) 448-1580; janandderek@comcast.net