Has knowing some phrases of a language ever made your experience better like this?

Recently I had a chance to visit the beautiful city of Alicante. The people were very friendly and I had learned some basic greetings like "Hola", "Buenos dias" and "Cómo estás". Along with some phrases to introduce myself and honestly the response I got was so amazing. Although it was clear with my Broken Spanish that I do not speak the language but from the effort, people just were so appreciative and gave such a heartwarming response. It really made me think I should do it more and make an effort to know some phrases for every place that I travel. Have you ever had an experience where knowing some phrases of a local language helped you in some way?