Marilyn

What an entertaining and heartwarming thread! After reading Gardyloo's story (which gets the prize, IMO) I wasn't even going to post mine, but what the hay...<BR><BR>In 1973 we took a day trip to the beach from Tulcea, Romania. Dressed in shorts and T's, with only our daypacks and a few dollars in Romanian currency, everything else left back in town. When we showed up to catch the return boat, we were told it was &quot;kaput&quot;, broken, no boat, folks. So we're stuck in the Danube delta at the Black Sea, in a tiny town with no hotels, no restaurants, we have virtually no money, no food, and the mosquitos are the size of bumblebees. Oh yeah, and NOBODY spoke English.<BR><BR>We were taken under the wing of a Communist party functionary who was on a fishing trip with his young son. (Romania was an Iron Curtain country then.) He spoke some French, as did we, and he took us back to his lodgings where he arranged for us to have a wonderful dinner of fresh-caught fish (family-style, with the family). We then slept for a few hours before we were awakened and escorted back to the river for a 4am boat. He paid for all of it and would simply not hear of our repaying him when we returned to Tulcea and our funds. What a guy.<BR><BR>So whenever you have the chance to help a traveller, go out of your way to do so. What goes around comes around.<BR><BR>

nocinonut

One of my kind strangers was in Venice, my friend and I were lost and late for a musical concert and trying to follow directions on the back of our tickets.<BR><BR>We were wandering on the back alleys off the beaten track when I stopped an elderly man strolling along. I said &quot;scuzi, dove ----&quot;. He smiled and pointed and started saying directions in Italian which became so complicated that I glazed over, but we started out the way he pointed and held to his directions for a bit. After about 15 minutes we turned a corner and bumped into him again, about 20 feet from where we first met him.<BR><BR>He held up his arms and shrugged at us with that questioning look that older Italians have, and we chattered on in pidgen Italian about which way we had gone. He smiled again and motioned to follow him, so, leading us, walking slowly, holding his hands behind his back he led us all the way to the concert, then up to the door, held the door for us, then bowed and walked off.<BR><BR>Of course, we thanked him and to this day I remember his angelic face.

amyb

I had desperately wanted to see Liam Neeson in a play in London back in '97 or '98. But foolishly did not get tickets before I got to London. I kept checking the box office, and they suggested trying each night just before the performance to see if anyone hands back tickets. The first night I tried, two elderly gentlemen heard my inquiry, asked if I wanted to see the show, then offered me a spare they were about to hand back into the theater. The ticket ended up being front row center between them, which I didn't realize until they led me down the aisle, and down and down and down....to the very front!<BR><BR>I had the most delightful night with the kindest men I met in England...

ira

Hi Natalia<BR><BR>&gt;I was unhurt but was kind of shaked (shooken?) up ...&lt;<BR> <BR> The word you are looking for is 'shaken', although I like 'shooken'.

ira

Hi all,<BR><BR> Wonderful posts. Fortunately, all of my strangers needed to provide only simple kindnesses, such as, how to operate the machines in the laundermat.

Lori

A kind stranger came to our rescue when we blew a tire on our rental car near Guildford (England)when I came too close to a curb trying to avoid another vehicle. She lived just up the street and saw our distress. My husband got the tire changed OK but we were in need of another spare (didn't want to drive around without one). She invited us back to her apartment, called Budget for us, made us tea and then got in her car and had us follow her to the Budget office in Guildford where they gave us a new spare! <BR><BR>As a side note this was the one and only time we drove right after getting off a flight from the west coast which is why I always tell people stay at an airport hotel that first day, jet lag is a real factor when driving after a 10 hr flight. Since then whenever we've driven in Europe we start out the next day.<BR><BR>Another kind stranger who came to our rescue was in France, in the countryside outside Blois. We were out with my husband's cousin who lives in Paris and she ran out of gas. We were about 3 miles from a gas station and we started walking. A kind truck driver stopped and gave us a lift. My husband sat in the back of his truck and us women sat up front with him and he proceded to give our cousin a hard time for subjecting her American relatives to a &quot;country walk&quot;. It was really funny and a highlight of the trip!

Powell

Natalia,<BR><BR>Some years ago in Ireland I lost a dental filling at an inopportune time. I was directed to a dentist who put in a &quot;temporary&quot; filling--really temporary. I paid his fee. Two days later it fell out while we were in Dublin.<BR><BR>The concierge at Buswell's Hotel in Dublin lead me to a lady dentist who competently repaired the filling.<BR><BR>I asked her what did I owe her and I will never forget the reply:<BR><BR>&quot;We only charge once for a filling in Ireland. No charge.&quot;<BR><BR>We return there later this year. God bless the Irish! <BR><BR>Anthony

gsgal

When i took my first trip abroad, it was to work in Germany for three months. <BR><BR>before work started i got to Hamburg to give myself some time to adjust and get settled. i took a train for a daytrip to what i thought was going to be the home of Martin Luther, since i'm Lutheran. well, i'm on the train for a long time and a gentleman sits down next to me and we start chatting. in german we're talking about what i'm doing and where i'm going. i tell him, well, i'm going to Wittenburg because i want to see where Martin Luther came from. (i hope i'm remembering the town correctly)<BR><BR>he looks at my ticket and says, you're not going there, you're going the wrong direction, you're going to WUTTENBERG. i was supposed to be going to WITTENBERG. see where bad accents can get you??! well, at the wuttenberg stop, it was an electrical station. i was crying, totally lost and in despair. <BR><BR>the gentleman starts talking to the Beamter and comes back to me and says, pay him $25, which I did. we get off the train, get another, and start heading back the direction of Hamburg. but, hours later, we arrive in Berlin. he took me past Hamburg by several hours. <BR><BR>we get off the train in Berlin. The man takes his briefcase and puts it in a locker, grabs me and a taxi, and takes me all around the city, showing me all the sights, the Victory Tower, the Tea Gardens, the Opera House, the Reichstag, Unter den Linden. he even took me for coffee and an apfelkuchen. of course he insisted on paying for everything. <BR><BR>that day was like a whirlwind. his kindness stopped me literally in my tracks and turned me in the right direction. he was on business and stopped what he was doing to be kind to me and make my day better. <BR><BR>i was a female, all alone. i was worried what i would do at the end of the day. but he hailed a taxi again, took me to the train station and practically shoved me on the train to Hamburg. i remember him standing on the platform waving goodbye. <BR><BR>i sent him emails and postcards, thanking him profusely. turned out, he was a law professor in Dresden. what kindness!!!

luna

Great thread, Natalia! Our story:<BR><BR>October, 2001, mere weeks after 9/11. My boyfriend, never a relaxed flier, was literally &quot;wired&quot; about our trip to Portugal, more so because the airline we were flying had had a flight to Portugal run out of fuel and make an emergency landing a few weeks earlier. Red-eye to Toronto, a couple of hours waiting, and then the flight to Lisbon was held up as the RCMP escorted a criminal off the plane and said criminal's luggage was found and removed. Neither of us had slept a wink for over 24 hours, due to the red-eye start to our trip, and the fact neither of us can sleep on planes. We were supposed to be connecting to a Faro-bound flight in Lisbon, but due to the delay in Toronto and a long stop in Porto, we reached Lisbon as our scheduled flight to Faro took off. A young man from Loule, who works and lives in Torornto, took us under his wing and literally hand-led us to the luggage claim, then to the TAP Air Portugal counter, where he explained the problem and the lady at the counter issued us tickets on the next flight, some 4 hours later. <BR><BR>Needless to say, we bought John-Paul quite a few thank-you beers while waiting for our next flight!

Sue_xx_yy

Gardyloo, I'm in awe. That was the story to end all stories! I'll post my own minor tale later.<BR><BR><BR>

Natalia

lol ira, I think, like Elvis, I was &quot;all shook up&quot;!

Danna

We got off the coach in Glenariff Northern Ireland noting there wasn't much there. Trudged thru the gale winds and found the B&amp;B we saw from the coach closed. We then headed into the wind again, and knocked on the nearby elementary school door. I'm thinking it was a Catholic school. We asked (no make that begged) for help. The principal of the school was very kind. A staff member was heading to Cushendall with the post and gave us a ride to a recommended B&amp;B. When we arrived at the Meadows, Cushendall NI, we were met with a welcome and tea. It's great to view a gale from a warm and cozy place! We have other kindness memories, but the time in the gale whilst soaking wet and seems best.

KathyNZ

Gardyloo, have you thought of being a travel writer, the most entertaining story on this site and extremely funny and well written also.<BR>In 1995 on my first trip to Europe I had some wierd and hilarious moments. My tour bus stopped at the border near Ventimiglia and we all jumped out for a comfort stop. Imagine my distress when I emerged from the said convenience to discover that the coach had completely disappeared along with my money, passport in fact everything. Before going into a mild panic I suddenly remembered that we had used a different coach that day from the one we were travelling through Europe on and although the driver had moved the coach about 50 metres down the road I could see it was our coach by the company name on the back. What a relief in more ways than one.<BR>On my latest trip to Europe last year and travelling solo I had so many kindnesses shown to me that it completely restored my faith in the human spirit.

lynlor

As I don't post on the Asia board, I will post this here.<BR><BR>Some years ago when my husband and I were in the train station in Nagoya, Japan, we realized that the only thing that we could read in the station were the numbers on the board.<BR><BR>A young woman came up to us and asked if she could help us....saying in English...if we would talk very slowly she would help us. We asked her if she knew the location of the hotel were scheduled to stay in. She said.....follow me, I will show you.This might be dangerous to do in some countries, but not in Japan.<BR><BR>She led us 3 blocks to our hotel. We thanked her profusely and wanted to pay her. She refused any payment and just seemed delighted that she was able to help us.

nanb

On our way to Caserta,<BR>we got horribly lost on some backroads,<BR>finally I saw another car comiong towards us, I stopped our car,<BR>got out and flagged the gentleman down.<BR>I speak beginners italian,<BR>he spoke a bit of English.<BR>After I explained the situation,<BR> he gave me directions <BR>But, then he told me to follow him in his car.<BR>He turned around, and drove ten minutes back the way he had just come from,<BR>to put us back onto a main road that would take us to Caserta.<BR>that is kindness.<BR>

holly777

gardyloo, I love it!

not just the event, or the kindness, but your writing of the story makes it a winner! It is amusing, entertaining, anticipatory, and not a bit too long! thank you for making us smile!

and Natalia, what a great idea for discussion...

aerobrigata426

TTT

Clea

While in Germany (my first visit outside of the USA and traveling alone), my rental car suffered a tire blowout in the middle of nowhere on the Autobahn heading toward Munich. A German truck driver pulled off to the side of the road and changed my tire. I spoke no German and he no English. All I could do was nod my gratitude and say Danke over and over.

Clea

maitaitom

After receiving the paperwork for our rental car in Paris, my wife and I were given a set of directions to find the car that would be worthy of &quot;The Amazing Race&quot;. &quot;Walk across the street, through the Florist shop, go next to the department store, down some steps, around two corners....&quot; Needless to say, we kept getting lost.

After telling my wife that I had a better chance to make love to Claudia Schiffer on top of the Eiffel Tower than actually finding our rental car, I saw a man kinda sleeping in the parking lot. I went up to him and told him our dilemma. He then led us on the incredible journey to where the cars were parked.

He continually turned down my request to give him money, until I finally shoved about 50 francs into his pocket. I told him that he could have a good career just leading stupid tourists to the cars, and he just laughed and thanked us for the money. It was a great moment until my wife slapped me for that Claudia Schiffer line.

LVSue

What a terrific thread. Like Ira, my stories consist mainly of simple kindnesses. Your stories, especially you Gardyloo, are truly special.