I've already contributed my WOW moments, but want to add that sailing into Venice is very special. Sailing out of Stromboli is an amazing memory with the volcano spewing as you leave the harbour. Odysseus, the original traveller, did this.

Now I must add a personal WOW. While in Sicily, we became very sick with food poisoning. Our plan was to sail to Malta so we had to be in Syracuse for the departure of our ship. By the time we reached Syracuse we realized that we weren't able to travel so we holed up in a small hotel for the night. All we wanted to do was go home but we soldiered on. The next day we took a bus to Taormina, where we had stayed earlier in the trip. We felt awful and we wanted to go back to a place that we loved. We showed up at the house that we had stayed a week before. The owner took one look at us and realized that we were in bad shape. She "found" a room for us, fed us tea and tucked us in for the night.

The next morning she fussed and fretted. We were still shaky but determined to get to Malta so we boarded a bus to Syracuse and got on the ferry to Malta.

What house? Who was she? We don't know because we were too sick to care or notice. This was a WOW moment for us because of the care and hospitality we received.

The kindness of strangers is so important when travelling. What small or large kindness have you encountered while travelling?

Lucy, Toronto