We had a wonderful inaugural Welsh Meetup in Donostia yesterday! @karenrutland and I met for lunch first of all, then @robert-john-summers joined us for a drink and a bit of general sightseeing. The weather was amazing - super warm but with a sea mist rolling in and very active surf!
@robert-john-summers did very well, keeping up his Welsh for 3 whole hours!
Then @karenrutland and I caught the bus to Zarautz where we met up with Begotxu - the Welsh-speaking Basque who was welcomed into the Gorsedd during the Eisteddfod in Tregaron this year. We were ready for food again, and Begotxu had just flown back from Cymru after doing the simultaneous translation from Basque into Welsh for the launch of the Etxepare Basque Institute mentioned above, so she was hungry too! We had a sit down meal at Txiki Polit Jatetxea and enjoyed carrying on the Welsh until it was time to leave - Karen to head back to Donostia by local train, and me on the bus back to Gasteiz!
The next meetup will have to get you and Begotxu together, @robert-john-summers 
Great afternoon! Thanks for inviting me, @Deborah-SSi and @karenrutland !
When Aran assures me on the course that I am now āwell on the way to be using Welsh in conversationsā I hadnāt quite expected those conversations to be three hours long 
Glad you had an enjoyable visit to Zarautz, I would love to go along next time and meet the famous Begotxu (my wife has already met her, years ago).
And if that wasnāt enough, Iāve just done a 45m zoom call in Welsh with a Basque learner from Cardiff. Iām both proud of myself, and horrified at some of the stuff that came (or didnāt come) out of my mouth at times!
I can see weāre going to have to start collecting a subgroup of Basque-Welsh bilinguals 
Begotxu had just returned from doing the simultaneous translation between Basque and Welsh at this event!
Diolch yn fawr iawn, miler asker. It was great to meet you both. Iām finally back home yn Lloegr and settled in again.
It sounds like youāre on a roll now Bob!
Iām still interested in a galesa/Basgeg Zoom group at some point if you are.
Hwyl am y tro, gero arte!
Glad you got back okay, great to meet you Karen and thanks for giving me a goal to work towards! I canāt imagine being able to speak so well in Welsh!
A regular Zoom intercambio would be great! I met my pal on Sunday for our weekly chat in Basque and only Welsh words wanted to come out 
Frustrating that happens yet I canāt remember the Welsh for āfourā when I need it 
Euskaraldia starts on the 18th Nov! I love seeing all the āBelarri Prestā badges around, which you wear if youāre willing to try out your Basque when out and about, no matter how little you speak
I hope youāre wearing yours! Iām going to try to speak only Basque when Iām out and about during Euskaraldia. Croesi bysedd!
Not sure which is rustier, my Basque or my badge from the 2018 Euskaraldia! But yep Iām wearing it already 
Sorry, I didnāt receive any new notifications for replies in this thread and have only just checked back in!
What times/days would be best for you both?
I saw Begotxu yesterday and she said sheāll have some free time in December. I was thinking if you can suggest some days and times on a weekend that would suit you, Bob, Begotxu and I could meet up with you in Donostia, and Karen could join in for a while using WhatsApp video.
Would that work?
Sounds great Deborah, keep me posted. Sundays Iām usually tied up with the kidsā rugby until after lunch but pretty much any other time is fine.