People who made a difference

Old Mar 18th, 2006, 10:10 AM
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People who made a difference

This is a bit different than the "kindness of strangers" thread. But I had a thought when I was looking at hotel reviews on Trip Advisor. Are there certain people at hotels, restaurants, tour groups, etc. who really just made you trip extraordinary?

I ask because I read a review of a hotel where I stayed in Sorrento on my first trip to Italy in 2002. The bartender there, Giuseppe, was unreal. Once he figured out your favorite drink, he'd have it ready as you walked in the door of the hotel in between a long day of sightseeing and a late dinner. He helped me practice my Italian, told us where to go away from the tourist path and was so darn nice that we didn't want to leave him.

But imagine my surprise when reading reviews of this hotel four years later, and unanimously almost every visitor posting a review is STILL raving about Giuseppe. That is certainly a testament to Guiseppe, certainly, but also so nice that he's still making an impact on people as they travel.

Anyone else met that special local who you still remember fondly?
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Old Mar 18th, 2006, 11:02 AM
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When I moved to Alicante I was a terrified 17 year old. I spent my first week at home until my host mother said "Today you will take the bus to downtown and walk around. You can't just hide here." With that she handed me 100 pesetas and told me to be home by 3 for lunch.

I got onto the bus and said (in very broken Spanish): Does this bus go to El corte ingles (the only department store I knew of, and I knew it was downtown)? The driver smiled and said "sit right behind me and I will tell you when to get off." And so, he did. Then he told me to get back onto this bus at the same stop and to have fun.

School started a few weeks later and, lo and behold, I took the same bus to school and he was the morning driver.

I used to take him little things (homemade cookies and such) and if he saw me running (I am not so prompt), he always slowed up. When my exchange year was over, I said goodbye to him, which was very sad.

The following summer I returned for a visit and who should drive me on my first bus ride into town but Juan. I got on and he said "Eh! Americana!"

Shorter acquaintences include: The waitress at La Granja in Barcelona who always speaks to me in Catalan and corrects me really nicely.

The couple that owns "el paseo" in Malaga where I have my before-dance coffee and my after-dance water.
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Old Mar 18th, 2006, 11:39 AM
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That is a precious story Laclaire. Kindness is always remembered.
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Old Mar 18th, 2006, 11:52 AM
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So many people...so much kindness..two years ago we had dinner at La Porta in Monticchiello...their focaccia was really wonderful and we ate and ate as the waitress continued to refill our basket..we asked her if she could tell us where in the town we could purchase some to take with us...she apologized and said it was made in house and not available...as we were leaving later, she came up to us with a LARGE bag filled with focaccia and said, "Take it..enjoy it" ......Last fall, one year later, we returned to La Porta and Daria came up to us and said, "Oh, you are the couple who loved the focaccia so much"...we were really touched to be remembered, and, of course, as we left, she hugged us, handed us our bag and said "Take it..enjoy it...see you next year!"
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Old Mar 18th, 2006, 12:47 PM
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We stopped at a post office in provence to mail back some dirty clothes so I could fit in books I bought. I asked where a certain B&B was and they didn't know but a French woman overhearing me piped in that she knew , was going in that direction to tail her and followed us in, in case we needed translation.
She invited us back for a pastis with her family and back the next night for dinner. That was over eight years ago and we get together every year now for a few nights.
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Old Mar 18th, 2006, 01:00 PM
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These kinds of stories make me teary

At first I thought I didn't have one since I haven't done that much traveling. However, I did go to Jamaica when I was about 17. This May I'll be turning 33. When I was in Jamaica with my mother, I would constantly go across the dirt highway to a little cafe. I don't eat meat and that cafe was the ONLY food place nearby that wasn't part of the Holiday Inn. Peter was my waiter. I would constantly go in and have a grilled cheese and fries. Peter was only a few years older than me. He offered to show me around town one night, though when I got to the bar at our hotel, he was commandeered by some tourists.

Now it's about 15 or 16 years later. Peter and I always kept in touch. We'd write letters a couple times a year. Call maybe once a year. He's always send me a birthday card. I know what you're thinking, was there romance. Sorry, no romance.

About 3 and a half years ago I was making my first trip since childhood to visit family and friends in NY. And guess who finally got their Visa approved and now lives in NYC? PETER! He moved to the city a week before my trip three years ago. I've been to NY 4 times in the last three years. Peter and I always get together. Once just for an hour visit in a park, once for a day of touring, last time he met me at a Jewish festival in the park and spent the day with my cousin and friends. Him and his daughter. Now he's married and we've maintained this friendship for such a long time.

He definitely made my Jamaica trip special and has been a special person ever since.
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Old Mar 18th, 2006, 02:43 PM
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Read about Kuca... of Graspo's... here:

http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...2&tid=34636241

Best wishes,

Rex
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Old Mar 18th, 2006, 03:02 PM
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whoops... Luca...
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Old Mar 18th, 2006, 05:37 PM
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I wonder if foreign travellers in the U.S. go home with any stories of people who made a (positive) difference..?
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Old Mar 19th, 2006, 03:59 AM
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After a week of constantly getting lost in Spain because of the horribly confusing roads and lack of steet signs, we were at our limit when we entered Jaen for a night at the Parador. Naturally, there wasn't a clue how to get there. I got out of my car and finally asked some guy in my broken Spanish how to get to the Parador. He spoke no English and my Spanish wasn't good enough to understand what he he said. He then got in his car and waved at me to follow. He then led us up to the place.

This guy is our all-time travel hero.
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Old Mar 19th, 2006, 04:02 AM
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"Author: Jean
Date: 03/18/2006, 09:37 pm
I wonder if foreign travellers in the U.S. go home with any stories of people who made a (positive) difference..?"

My wife isn't American and she is always amazed at how much more firendly and helpful Americans are than the people where she comes from. It really blew her away, for example, when we first went to shopping malls at Christmas time with parking lots jammed and people would signal to us to follow them so that we could take their parking spot.
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Old Mar 19th, 2006, 05:05 AM
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On our very first trip aboard my husband and I were driving through Alsace for a few days and one of our stops was a little town called Eguisheim. We had no reservations for the entire trip but we had about 3-5 names of places in each town that we were interested in staying in and would call on them either via phone or in this case we stopped in.

First I walk right in as it looked like a lobby of sorts but no...it was their foyer!! I realize this (after my husband clarifies for me..oops!!) and I back out and close the door and I ring the door bell ... I know DUH!

A very kind elderly lady answers with her husband at her side and we inquire about a room. She speaks even less English than we do French (which is really just enough to get by) but she pulls out her translator and tells us there are no rooms but she is going to call around to some people she knows to see if they have any ... how nice!!

Her husband invites us in and we talk in the foyer for a little bit while she is on the phone. He speaks perfect English and tells us that she likes to be in charge (how cute!!) and will find us a great place to stay.

After calling 3 different places she comes back in all excited and tells us that a friend of hers is on the way to escort us to her place where she has an attic apartment that we can stay in. Our host arrives and off we go.

That elderly couple was just so cute together and it was so kind of her to find us a place to stay.
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Old Mar 19th, 2006, 05:21 AM
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Thanks for sharing, everyone, these are great stories!
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Old Mar 20th, 2006, 03:20 PM
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I was with my aunt and uncle on a quick trip to the Champagne region of France last autumn. I had moved to Belgium in April and hadn't spent much time in France yet, and we found ourselves in the middle of the countryside about 1 o clock and starting to get hungry. We think "oh, we'll just grab something in the next village."

Well, the next village doesn't have a restaurant. Ok, next one. We see a tiny dingy little bar that looks like it has a menu on a chalkboard out front. No, he's all out of food for the day. We ask him where we can find something to eat, he laughs at our "foreigners french" and says it's too complicated, we wouldn't understand the directions (This has been the only true "Ugly Frenchman" I've met so far since moving to Europe...)

Ok, well, next village, then. It has a real restaurant!! But.....its lunch service is now over (It was something like 1:30, 2:00 now). My aunt and I are both hypoglycemic and we're really starting to show signs of wear.....the restaurant staff directs us to a nice bakery right on the center square of the next village. We find the square, park, get out.....the bakery is closed on Monday afternoons!!! Aaargh!!!!

We are standing there, completely confounded as to how people manage to live here with no apparent source of food other than the plentiful grapes growing for miles and miles all around us. Seriously, we have not seen a convenience store, a grocery store, nothing. And each town is absolutely dead silent. (For future reference, don't ever try to do *anything* in the "Champagne Countryside" on Monday other than drive, and make sure you have a full tank of gas!!)

A man comes walking out of a building and I stop him and ask him(sounding irrationally desperate, I'm sure) where we could find a grocery store or a shop or anything. Not surprisingly, it's obvious that "we ain't from around here." He thinks for a minute (I'm thinking "Jeez, they really DON'T eat here!! He has to think about where the grocery store is??)

He then proceeds to walk to his car and gesture for us to follow him in our car. (I had to try very hard not to be insulted by these people's complete lack of faith in my ability to speak, let alone comprehend, French!! They didn't even try!! I finally just started giggling at it, and didn't take it personally)

So he leads us down this narrow one way street that looks like an alleyway going into someone's farm, through a couple of intersections, left then right then left again, through a little neighborhood.....and then onto a country road leading apparently nowhere! We are starting to think that he completely misunderstood what we were asking for (so much for my faith in my French abilities!), when suddenly out of nowhere, in the middle of a field, is a small modern grocery store. He tapped his brakes and gestured to it (in case we didn't NOTICE it? and went on his way. I guess not the most exciting story in the world but it suuuuuuure made a difference to my aunt and me (and my uncle, who had had to share the car with two VERY cranky, spacey low-blood-sugar ladies!!)
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Old Mar 20th, 2006, 04:56 PM
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So many stories, but one in particular comes to mind. The first time we were in Spain and our train reservations were a mess and very difficult because it was Semana Santa. Miguel at the Marriott Marbella spent hours getting them straightened out for us--we couldn't have done it without him! Last time we stayed there, they told us he was now at a Marriott in Germany and I said, "Oh, I miss Miguel." And the two people working reservations said, "Yes, we miss him too."
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Old Mar 20th, 2006, 05:29 PM
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I think that the people who take the time to answer on this forum and others, providing valuable info and steering people in the right direction are wonderful. I think you will all agree that they can make a big difference in how your trip goes.
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Old Mar 20th, 2006, 05:39 PM
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Wow. These are all great stories.

A person I will always remember is Mazarella O'Flaherty. While strolling down a street in Dingle Ireland with my mother and four brothers - we struck up a conversation with this a lady who was walking her dog. Actually it was the dog who kind of introduced us. We started chatting and before we knew it - she arranged for us to meet her at O'Flaherty's pub - which is owned by her brother. It was our first night in Ireland and I will always remember the charm of this pub. There were more locals than tourist which was great and Mazarella sang along with the band and dedicated a song to the McCarthy's from America.
It was a very special evening and one my family will cherish forever.
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Old Mar 20th, 2006, 05:45 PM
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Interesting comment about would Americans do the same thing? I hope you were just wondering and I'm taking it wrong. My brother was a police officer in Marin County for many years. One evening a couple traveling in the US from Germany came to the police station. The spoke almost no english so communication was very difficult. My brother called one of the dispatchers at her home....he knew she spoke german..and had her talk to this couple. Apparantly they were backpacking and had arrived in the town with no place to stay and had no idea where too look or what to do. At that time there weren't a lot of choices for places to stay in Marin. The dispatcher called around and finally located a place for them to stay in the next town. If they had not located a place my brother was prepared to take them home with him. Anyway, he drove them to the motel. Many months later they received a very lovely thank you letter from the couple who had finished their visit her and had returned home. I bellieve they also sent a gift, but can't recall what it was. So, it goes both ways.
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Old Mar 22nd, 2006, 06:33 AM
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Re: would we do the same in the US? Traveling abroad myself has certainly made me more aware of tourists here in Boston. I work in downtown Boston and see thousands a year roaming around. I have made it a point to stop for anyone who is holding a map trying to find some place downtown here and ask if they need help. I'll even walk them there if it seems too hard to explain. Part of my reason for doing this is kind of like "paying it forward" in return for the people who have helped me in Europe, but the other part is just being able to talk to folks from other places, from the US and other places. It's the least I can do and doesn't take much time out of my day.
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Old Mar 22nd, 2006, 08:45 AM
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I whole-heartedly second IrishEyes comment. Beginning with anticipation and planning and ending with reminiscing and planning again, I have truly appreciated the comments and suggestions I've read here.

I love these experiences! Keep them coming . . .
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