From time to time, we like to share a little information about some of our passengers. For this issue, we decided to feature two couples who took their first trips with the Brown Travelers just this past summer.

If you have an experience, story or photo from a past Brown Travelers trip that you would like to share with us, please feel free to contact us at Brown_Travelers@alumni.brown.edu.

Dr. Stafford I. Cohen ’56, P’87 and Deborah R. Cohen P’87 (Massachusetts)

Dr. and Mrs. Cohen recently took the wonderful trip “Exploring Iceland” with faculty member Peter Gromet (Associate Professor of Geological Sciences). They both enjoyed this highly educational trip, noting that on many trips you learn about history and culture, but on this trip, thanks to the Brown faculty member and their tour leader, they gained much more insight. According to Dr. Cohen, “The bus rides were excellent continuous information.” Added Mrs. Cohen, “Our guide was spectacular, always keeping us entertained on the bus with the history of Iceland, politics, fables, songs, etc.” Dr. Cohen even went so far as to say, “If this were a course I would purposely fail so I could repeat it!” Another aspect of the trip that they very much enjoyed was meeting “a wonderful group of compatible fellow alumni travelers” with varied interests. Their travel mates included a pathologist, a musician (who had an opportunity to play an organ in one of the churches they visited) and an artist. They explained that it “might have been a different mix if it weren’t a Brown trip.”

Col. William D.W. Grimes USAF ’59 and Mrs. Judith D. Grimes ’61 (New Hampshire)

Col. and Mrs. Grimes recently returned from the trip “Cruise the Passage of Peter the Great” in Russia with Professor Patricia Herlihy (Emerita Professor of History and Research Professor at the Watson Institute for International Studies). They thought that the trip was “absolutely super.” They particularly enjoyed the full itinerary and the fact that, since it was a cruise, they only had to pack and unpack once. When asked what led them to choose Brown Travelers over another tour provider, they said that it was the additional “extras,” including the lecture series. Col. Grimes stated that if he had had Pat Herlihy for a lecturer at Brown, he would have paid more attention! They both thought that Pat was extremely impressive. Mrs. Grimes would definitely recommend Brown Travelers to others because they had such a good experience. They felt that the trip was an excellent value and that the information provided was outstanding. According to Col. Grimes, “We looked at several less expensive offerings without references. Since this trip was sponsored by Brown we decided on this one, and we are very glad we did.”