mimi taylor

My first trip alone to france, I arrived in paris at the gare de lyon and hopped on the train that I thought was going to Avignon. Not knowing much of the language, a gentleman sitting next to me asked me a question in French(the train is at a standstill) I answered in my fractured French, that I did not understand the question and he switched to english and asked where I was headed, he responded with "Merde" I was on the wrong train, he hustled me off, helping me with my suitcase and ran at top speed to get me to my train, that was just about to stop accepting passengers. This kind man, turned his cheek for a requested kiss and wished me a bon voyage, before he disappeared into the crowd.

Rhonda

Sometimes you meet wonderful, strange, helpful people before you even get to your destination. We hadn't even left our home airport (Sydney) when disaster struck. My son, then aged about 10, was jumping down some stairs while waiting for us to check in the luggage. Oh no, he hurt himself. Off to the airport doctor who proclaimed that he wouldn't be able to fly, X-ray needed. So with a suspected broken ankle we went back to check-in to try and rearrange flights. Fellow behind the counter went out of his way to get my son and I on the next available flight and even offered us his car keys to get us to a local medical centre with X-ray facilities. We turned down his offer as I might not get back in time for when he finished work. Got to the medical centre and back via taxi. Verdict? Just a bad sprain. On arrival back at the airport again spoke with the same helpful check in clerk who rang through to the plane (not yet taken off), found seats for us, got a wheel chair, pushed my son and ran us through passport control out to the waiting plane. On arrival at Denpasar (Bali) a wheelchair was waiting for us. Our 2 week holiday was somewhat hindered by carrying our son around everywhere but we all had a great time. On return there were a number of urgent phone messages ... his foot was indeed broken.<BR><BR>

christine

WOW, these are all so great and cheer up a person thinking of traveling alone for the first time..It might not be so scarey out there after all!<BR>Thank you and keep them coming-

Linda

When we were in Trieste waiting for a train, the time passed and, not understanding Italian, didn't realize there was a delay. One guy who spoke Italian and English told us what happened and he and a friend, who spoke Italian and German, and the two of us played cards until the train came and then they made us walk all the way to the back of the train to get on the Italian cars because they said the people in the forward cars had "microbes". Another story with cards: we were going from Munich to Bertchsgaden and the conductor, who spoke no English, watched us play. We spoke little German but could count, so we taught him to play 21. He would play cards with us until we hit a town and he would do his rounds, then come back and play again.

Julie

One of the nicest most helpful people I have met was in Orlando. My Niece and her friend wanted a particular pair of Nike Trainers, we went everywhere with no luck, every Nike outlett that we saw, we stopped and asked. We finally decided to try one more, west on the 192, where we met a guy named Jim. Jim told us that the trainers that they wanted were no longer available as they were a special type put out especially for the Olympics the year before, however, Jim said that he was on holiday for a couple of days and that he would ring around a few of his friends in different stores to see if he could get hold of any for us, he took the phone number of the holiday home we were staying at and he would call us to let us know the outcome. Sure enough, two days later he called to say he had two pairs for us, he had called the main office in Michigan and they had the two pairs of trainers flown down (about 3000 miles I think) at no extra cost. I told Jim that in England, the stock reply you get from almost every shop you go in is "if you can't see it, we aint got it". We go to see Jim everytime we go to Orlando now and make a point of seeking him out. What a great guy.

Diane

We've travelled all over the world but one of the nicest people, and I've met many, was in "unfriendly" NYC. It was a beautiful Mother's Day morning & a friend & I were on our way to church. My friend had warned me not to speak or make eye contact with anyone, particularly in the underground areas, but being from Texas, it's a difficult habit to break. As we were walking up the stairs, a dirty & rather ragged looking young man stopped in front of me & asked, "Are you a Mother"? Friend grabbed my sleeve to pull me away but I stopped & said, "Yes, I have a son about your age." With that he handed me a beautiful red carnation & broke into a lovely rendition of "Happy Mother's Day to You." We must have been an unusual looking sight but I stood there for the entire song with the young man & I both in tears.

c

Oh Boy,Diane,thanks for making me cry too!!! <BR>That is a great story...<BR>It is funny that your friend warned you not to make eye contact,as if there were wild wolves or something roaming the streets! haha, I guess to some from out of town, it must seem that way...I have lived here a long time now, but I came from the South, by way of California, and I still look 'em in the eye, touch and feel,and smile...and you know what...they smile back!<BR>Keep visiting - and don't listen to your friend<BR>

Sue

My first trip alone to Paris was to spend Christmas with my daughter who was spending a college year in France. I arrived at airport and for whatever reason had decided to be thrifty and take the RER into Paris, then Metro to hotel (I've since learned better!) with no sense of what this would be like with too much and too heavy luggage, etc. A middle-aged businessman from Algeria sensed my confusion and helped me get the shuttle to the RER,lifted my heavy suitcase, etc., and we carried on a halting conversation in French (b/c of my lack of fluency). Quickly it progressed to where he wanted to know my age, my profession,my hotel, my telephone #, and I declined to answer the latter, figuring my friendliness/naivete had led him to a mistaken assumption. By then we were on RER, and he turned his attention to a young attractive French woman, and he said "au revoir" to me and got off at his stop. The young woman then began to tell me how to proceed with the rest of my journey; it seems that he had enlisted her to help me with the rest of my trip since he was exiting earlier. I was really touched by his "chivalry" despite my "rebuff"! Heady stuff for a middle-aged woman wearing a wedding ring! I'm always reminded of this experience when I hear about the "unfriendly" French and other stereotypes that we all buy into so easily from time to time.