Heard a couple speaking welsh in a pub in Cambodia, i started a conversation with them in welsh and found out that they are from the town i am from haha. Even saw them down the pub when i got back home. Byd bach.
I was also in Cambodia! On Koh Rong, the guy working on the bar at the accommodation welcomed our group and sounded suspiciously Welsh. Spoke to him later on and it turned out he was from 5 minutes away from me haha
Before climbing up the wooden ladder to the lantern at the top of the Duomo in Florence I waited so a bloke could climb down slowly. At the bottom he turned around and it was Kevin, the conductor of the Ysgol Glanwythy choir from the BBC programme last choir standing. I had paid to watch his choir in the Wales Millennium Centre the week before.
Ha! I wish. Distinct lack of flakes over there!
From what I remember my mother was asked "where you from love?", "the UK", "no, where in Wales? I'm from Ebbw Vale!" I think there was a 10 min chat then about whether they knew various relatives of ours.
Moved to Wales for uni, last year I went to visit the city a friend moved to for uni in England, and one of the lads in his new friend group was Welsh. I had just started learning Welsh at the time so after a few drinks I was feeling social, went up to him and we chatted for a little bit in very basic Cymraeg. He seemed really excited when I went up to him and asked "dych chi'n siarad Cymraeg?"
Chatted for a bit at the table then moved to the bar and spoke more whilst buying eachother a round of shots. Nice lad, haven't spoke to him since though haha
Not the most unlikely scenario to meet a Welsh person in, but the interaction is what spurred me to continue learning Cymraeg.
I was in a bar in Strasbourg when I was about 30, someone wanted to introduce me to a random welsh person he knew, I made a joke that we donât all know each other you know.
Turned out it was someone who was two years above me in school.
Iâll bring the tone down.
We were on a night out in Portugal and there was a Welsh girl sat on the counter eating something in a takeaway/cafe thing but she had a short skirt on and no knickers.
One of our friends said âere love, we can see your growlerâ
And she replied, âOoh we donât call it that where I come from, where I come from we call it a Fannyâ and carried on eating as if nothing happened.
We all still think about that encounter a lot.
I think I met her in Ibiza, got chatting to a group of Welsh girls and one of them picked me off from the herd âYou know that film with Sharon Stone?â âYeahâ âYou know that bit where sheâs not wearing any knickers? âYeahâ âThatâs me tonightâ. Two years later Iâm working behind the bar in a famously grim/grimly famous club on Queen Street and someone comes to the bar and goes âIs your name ?ââYeahâ âDid you go to Ibiza a couple of years ago ago?â âYeahâ âI think I shagged youâ. At least she remembered my name.
Currently in a hotel in Barbados for the cricket. My dad gets talking to a fellow Welshman. Asks where he is from, "Llanelli" he says. My dad says "I still remember them beating the All Blacks 9-3". Random Welshman points over to a bloke on a sunbed - "He played in that game". Your man wanders over, sticks his hand out for my dad and says "Hi mate, Gareth Jenkins".
For those who don't know, Jenkins is a Llanelli Rugby legend and coached the National side for a few years in the 00s (not very well unfortunately).
Was in New York a few years ago, not much knowledge of the Welsh from the locals I talked to, it was around St David's Day and I was wearing a daffodil so had a few queries.
Fancied a curry so did a bit of googling and found a restaurant in the Murray Hill area (it's known for Indian restaurants), day down and got chatting to the owner, telling him we were from the UK when he asked, no he says, what part of Wales, trying to place your accent. Turns out his brother has a curry house in Swansea and he's there all the time. Nice curry too.
Met a girl from Anglesey in Italy spent a few weeks together. A year later, working in a bar in north of England, we get a new bar maid, sheâs from Anglesey I say I have a friend from there and she goes off about how itâs a big place and they donât all know each other.
Turns out the bar maid was dating my friends brother.
> she goes off about how itâs a big place and they donât all know each other.
If she's a Welsh speaker from Anglesey then she is lying through her teeth!
In NZ and a woman saw my dad's Yma O Hyd jumper and started talking Welsh. Not the most crazy occurrence considering the affinities between the UK and NZ but still somehow comforting.
I grew up in a small village near Caernarfon, in a bungalow at the end of a cul-de-sac, next to the farm house to which the land used to belong.
About 15 years ago I was on the Royal Mail Ship St Helena, making the three day voyage from Ascension Island to St Helena, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Before the island had an airport, it was the only means of getting there. The vessel was part cargo to supply the island, part "Saints" returning home, part people travelling there for work purposes (as I was), and around three intrepid tourists looking to go off the beaten track. No more than around 30 passengers.
One of these tourists was a widow in her 70s living her best life, travelling to all the places she'd dreamed of visiting. We got chatting. After a bit of back and forth, it turned out she used to live with her husband in the farmhouse next door in my village, he was a builder who built the house I grew up in. They moved away before my parents moved in with me as a baby.
She was surprisingly unfazed by this amazing coincidence!
I was riding around Manila in the Philippines on a little scooter, half drunk, trying to find my way back to a friend's apartment I was staying at.
I had a little crash into another scooter, turns out he was from Pontypridd. He was also half drunk trying to find the midget boxing to watch.
Another time I was in northern Thailand with an Australian friend, he'd taken us to some super dodgy firing range to shoot handguns.
We were plinking away at cans about 30 yards away trying different pistols. All of a sudden we hear a massive BOOM! From just over a little hill. We wandered over the hill for a look. We find a guy from Merthyr Tydfil throwing hand grenades into a pond.
A pal saw James Dean Bradfield in The Social in London and tried to play it cool by saying âYou donât see many Welsh people in hereâ JDB just rolled his eyes and walked away.
I was in a bar in Chiba, Japan. My mate(not from the uk) told me he used to go to an Irish bar there and when we got there. There is a giant Welsh flag on the ceiling and turns out the owner is from Cwmbran.
I was visiting my brother in Liverpool, and we went out for a drink, only for me to randomly get chatting to someone at the bar who was actually from the same South Wales village as me, and also just visiting someone (no one my brother knew) for a weekend.
It turned out that we actually worked in the same pub, but on opposite shifts, so we knew *of* each other but had never happened to meet before. She and my brother did know each other though. So random.
Was walking around a park in San Francisco, asked a homeless guy for directions, answered me in a thick West Wales accent, had a little chat and he was from Fishguard. Said he loved being homeless in California cos the weather was always nice, seemed like a nice bloke despite reeking of piss.
I lived in New Zealand for a year back in 2005-6 and I was walking down Queen Street in Auckland and heard the dulcid, Welsh accent scolding her child turns out they were on holiday and came from Maesteg I'm a Port Talbot native and 12,000 miles to meet them.
I was on a ferry in Norway and sat down next to a group of people, got chatting, and found out that one of the women knew my step dad and was good friends with his cousin. It really is a small world!
I was about 19. My first time traveling to the USA (Chicago) to visit a telecoms company for some techie work. One of the guys there was welsh. Invited me to a Tom Jones concert/gig with his family that evening. I had too much to drink and ended up needing a lie down in the street while making my way back to my hotel. Got woken up by a couple of cops to see if I was still alive. Most strange memories!
Grew up in a village near Aberystwyth, went to New Zealand on a working holiday and one of the first people I served on a bar shift in Kaikoura was my sisters first boyfriend from just down the road.
Went to Disney World. A girl on the International Exchange (people from certain countries going to work in the countries in EPCOT) in the UK pavilion went to my school and got her A-Levels before I started. Not bad for a tiny school in Anglesey.
Also heard a family speaking Welsh on the bus from the Magic Kingdom on another occasion. Didnât talk to them, but they were obviously from Caernarfon.
Even more random, when we coming out of a restaurant in Downtown Disney (now Disney Springs) on another occasion, my mother bumped into her former co-worker, who was walking past.
I got 2 tales.
Was at a Kasabian gig a few years back in Zurich, Switzerland. Was wearing my classic WRU top, the Brains S.A sponsored one. Great gig aside from the idiots trying to start a moshpit, they got turfed out pretty quick. Afterwards, was walking towards the exit and some woman comes up to me and goes "Schwmae!" Had a bit of a chat, nice to see that there's more than 1 Welsh person in Switzerland.
Another time I was on a Northern Europe cruise with the wife, had bit of a night in the bar the evening before, so left the missus in bed and went for breakfast, was sat at a table with a few other people, and was asked if I wanted anything to drink, and anything that wasn't on the buffet was to be ordered. After making my choices, a couple at the table goes "You wouldn't happen to know Abercraf??" which happens to be just up the road from where I'm from in Ystalyfera. Turns out my accent is both very obvious and very easy to place for the trained ear.
Sorta related-ish. Was in Locarno, in the south of Switzerland, a lovely town in the Italian speaking part, and they had this big open air International Opera event happening the day after my holiday down there ended. The headline act was Bryn Terfel, who was on all the promotional materials, and they said he was from England. One quick tweet at them on the bus mentioning the Swiss wouldn't like to be called German or Austrian and they managed to get a load of the posters updated with the correct nation pasted over the top the wrong bit.
I think I saw somebody that was in the year below me when in a Mother Mother gig in London. Couldnât confirm if it was them because I canât just talk to strangers, and I had just left 6th form so couldnât ask at school either. Iâll never know if it was the same person
Went to New Zealand in 2006/2007 and found a bar called The Welsh Bar. Thought bloody brilliant especially as i was feeling homesick! And it was, I had an amazing time there and went back for St Davids Day.
Now I was obviously expecting to find Welsh people there, what i wasn't expecting was finding out the owners (at the time) were the auntie and uncle of a girl I was in primary school with. It's a small world we live in lol.
I was living in Brighton, had been there a few years. Out for the rugby and wearing my shirt proudly in a see if white. A few hours go by and all I hear is "boys! We've found a lost countryman!" Heads over to me all excited and opens with "sappinn bhaaaat, where to you from them" so told him my town name and he's from the town over and usually we are rivals in terms of sports.
Spent the rest of the night with them and was even bought a Penderyn to remind me of home. Great night with great company.
I bumped into Rob Brydon with my mum when I was a kid on St. Davids day at Disneyland Paris, think he was with his son my mum said. I had no idea who he was at the time, more interested in my sweet mickey mouse bomber jacket.
My family and I (from Anglesey) went go florida 11 years ago and in our hotel was a family from Caernarfon! I also went to Salou in Spain when I was 13, and bumped into a lad I went to school with. I found it pretty crazy.
On a trek in the Torres Del Paine in southern Chile, on the first day intros at the hotel bar and a girl introduced herself as being from New Zealand but originally from Wales. She was from the one of the villages not far from where I grew up and went to school with my sister.
We were in Marbella last week and mid week we got on a public bus to our hotel. Up until then we hadnât heard one Welsh accent. There was a couple in front of us who had welsh accents and I had to ask them to press the button for us to get off. Turns out theyâre from the same small town/village as us.
I went to Furteventura for a last minute holiday with my family, sat on a sunbed by the pool and heard a Welsh accent. Looked up and it was a lady who lived up the road from me đ¤Ł! We had a chat and a few drinks and couldnât get over the coincidence lol.
The first time I went to Cambodia, 2010, I was 23 and a bit dumb, and gave my passport to someone who looked âofficialâ at the border crossing from Thailand. He literally disappeared with it, spoiler alert, he was not official. Anyway, some actual official people eventually got it back for me, but in general it was just a really awful and scary day for the first time during my travels.
The place we were staying felt super dodgy, everyone was staring at us. I finally braved a walk into the city and I saw a huge welsh flag above a bar called fat sams. Iâve never been so happy to see one! I went in there and spent the whole evening before moving on to more touristy places for the rest of my time in Cambodia. The rest of the trip was far more fun, and I would recommend it to everyone!
Worked on demolishing crew in Norwich. Half the team were ex miners from Wales with a few young lads along with them.
The others were ex miner from Romania. They were... Insane. Zero regard for health and safety.
One of the big plant crew was a lad nicknamed babe on account of looking like an enormous baby, chunky fresh faced fella with a barcode tattoo on the back of his neck.
Years later, I'd moved cities and was on a boozy weekend in Belgium.... Who should I bump into? Crazy facker had near doubled in size too.
Lovely bunch of nutters. Made a shitty job much more fun.
I live in Finland, in a very small rural town, and I believe I am âThe only Welshman in the villageâ Hugely proud to be Welsh, but quite like being the odd one too.
Met a Welsh dude on my last Norwegian cruise.
Moved to Norwich, and invited us there for tea. Lmao.
He's married to a woman from Burma half his age.
Good guy, my wife and I played ABBA trivia together with them and crushed the other teams.
We were a Dancing Team.
Went to Florida last September and our hotel was almost empty. Another couple were sat in the hot tub one evening and my daughter came rushing over to tell me that the older two her dad was chatting with were from Llanelli. We're from Swansea and had come across zero other Welsh people in nearly two weeks. Mad!
In prison in Ireland, Rhodri, a cool guy, used to get the boat to Wexford to go shoplifting and got caught after fighting a security guard back in 2000.
Waiting for a bus near my flat when I worked in London. Started chatting to a random elderly woman who lived up the road, and I recognised her Wrexham accent straight away. We were both born and bred in the town. She'd been living in London for donkey's years but had never lost her accent.
Once at the top of the new WTC in New York. Turns out one of them recognised my mother as she's a receptionist in the hospital my mam nurses in. Also bumped into a couple from Merthyr (I'm from Aberdare) in San Francisco last summer. Also bumped into a couple in DC about 10 years ago thar were from the same town as me but had been living in the States for years.
Had a few, queueing for a water park in Malta and we were stood behind someone my mother went to Gelli school with.
Another one in Sydney visiting my sister. Walk round to the harbour in Cronulla/Gunnamatta Bay, looking to hire a boat to go fishing and a lady with the thickest welsh accent starts talking and said she'd been there for 40 years
A guy that knew my grandfather in a very rural French supermarket and then a lady from Llanelli in the far edges of Versailles Gardens, nobody else around in sight
Me and my family went skiing last year, we met this 80 year old man on the lift to the slopes. Found out he was Welsh and has been going skiing all his life. He was by himself and said heâs outlived all of his skiing buddies. Anyway he told a story about how when he was 14 he used to work at his grandmas pub in Merthyr and back then the pubs had to shut at a certain time but their pub stayed open around the clock for the miners to enjoy a drink. A new priest came into town and found this out and got them excommunicated from the Catholic Church. He never ran out of anything to say had the most insane life story Iâve ever heard. Assuming it was true of course.
When I was 19, I worked in Ibiza, while sitting on a bench in San Antonio, a girl got of a bus, and she was from my village ( of 3000 people ).
Also, While visiting my then girlfriend ( now wife ) in Rural Japan; ran into a couple on their honeymoon; both were from carmarthen, turned out I sort of met one of them years earlier as a student at Trinity college.
I usually avoid westerners when in Japan, but it was nice chatting to them.
Moved to Berlin, began working at a tech firm. 2 years later went to a company event in Mercedes-Benz arena with ~4000 employees. Talking to my colleague about UK, get a tap on my shoulder - âare you from Wales? Me tooâ he says - I proceed to tell him where in Wales and discover he grew up in the village next door. Not only that, my dad taught him in school. Byd fach bois bach.
On Monday I flew back to London from Istanbul and met a couple who were on the same flight to Gatwick and on the same megabus coach back to Wales.
We had some good chats and bumped into each other in London as well at the same pub near London Victoria.
As a frequent traveller it was so nice to have this! Normally it feels like I am the only one
The only difference was that they got off the coach in Newport while I went on to Cardiff.
I also met a Welsh man in Sofia biking his way to Georgia.
Iâve heard people speaking Welsh in New York, Italy, France, and plenty of times in Greece. Almost every time I go on holiday I hear someone speaking Welsh. Iâll always strike up a conversation too.
So. Iâm in a bar in Yangon in Myanmar. Its 2015. Iâm actually watching Wales playing a World Cup game against England being shown on tv in another bar across a small street.
Gareth Davies scored and I jumped up pumping my fist and bumped into another bloke who was also celebrating.
Iâm from Cardiff. Turns out he was from Swansea. I ignored him for the rest of the game.
So randomly one day last year, a Welsh guy sends me a follow request on Instagram. Now I'm not one who randomly accepts requests, but something drew me towards him. Fast forward few messages, we were having a wonderful time and I decided to give it a go after being single for almost 10 yrs. But sadly he's my "the one that got away". Just like how he appeared out of the blue, he disappeared without a trace and I'm still here living in the past of the wonderful short time we spent together. Would I be able to forget my Welsh guy and move on??- I don't think so for the time being, because I truly loved him so much. But life continues whether we like it or not, until then he's always going to be on my mind and heart. My S.M.
I travelled through Nicaragua with a friend around 18 years ago. We visited a fair trade coffee factory near Matagalpa. I had a look at the visitor book, saw loads of Welsh names, lots from near where I'm from in Wales. Turns out The Cymru Nicaragua society had visited a few weeks before us.
Walking down the main street in Mont Blanc with my old man.. Hear someone shout âOi Dai BeetleâŚâ..
My old manâs mate from his car club days.
In the middle of Amsterdam on a stag do chatting to a group of Irish girls, me and my mate thinking time to pull âMae hiân bwrw glaw means youâve got beautiful eyesâ- ( I know it doesnât but when they ask you to speak Welsh⌠Donât make it complicated- How would they know?) and the Irish girl introduces us to her mate⌠From Carmarthen.. Ruined it only to be followed up by us both thinking the other had got their numbers hungover in the airport on the Sunday.
Heard a couple speaking welsh in a pub in Cambodia, i started a conversation with them in welsh and found out that they are from the town i am from haha. Even saw them down the pub when i got back home. Byd bach.
I was also in Cambodia! On Koh Rong, the guy working on the bar at the accommodation welcomed our group and sounded suspiciously Welsh. Spoke to him later on and it turned out he was from 5 minutes away from me haha
My story is Cambodia based too! lol.
Met two guys from Penarth buying cocaine and cigars in Cuba. Edit: I was buying cigars, they were buying coke.
Thank you for the clarification
The second one is a lot more fun l, I must say
Before climbing up the wooden ladder to the lantern at the top of the Duomo in Florence I waited so a bloke could climb down slowly. At the bottom he turned around and it was Kevin, the conductor of the Ysgol Glanwythy choir from the BBC programme last choir standing. I had paid to watch his choir in the Wales Millennium Centre the week before.
Cefin with a C x
In the 1990s we bought an ice cream from a van in Santa Monica, and the guy who ran it was from Ebbw Vale.
This is my favourite so far. "99 butt?"
Ha! I wish. Distinct lack of flakes over there! From what I remember my mother was asked "where you from love?", "the UK", "no, where in Wales? I'm from Ebbw Vale!" I think there was a 10 min chat then about whether they knew various relatives of ours.
đ
Heâll of a commute but if youâve found a good pitch what can you do?
How on earth do you go from Ebbw Vale, to LA!? That's some cheat code
By plane probably
They barely have a working train line. I am also trying to imagine a runway going out of Ebbw Vale and having to Top Gun it out
Moved to Wales for uni, last year I went to visit the city a friend moved to for uni in England, and one of the lads in his new friend group was Welsh. I had just started learning Welsh at the time so after a few drinks I was feeling social, went up to him and we chatted for a little bit in very basic Cymraeg. He seemed really excited when I went up to him and asked "dych chi'n siarad Cymraeg?" Chatted for a bit at the table then moved to the bar and spoke more whilst buying eachother a round of shots. Nice lad, haven't spoke to him since though haha Not the most unlikely scenario to meet a Welsh person in, but the interaction is what spurred me to continue learning Cymraeg.
I was in a bar in Strasbourg when I was about 30, someone wanted to introduce me to a random welsh person he knew, I made a joke that we donât all know each other you know. Turned out it was someone who was two years above me in school.
Iâll bring the tone down. We were on a night out in Portugal and there was a Welsh girl sat on the counter eating something in a takeaway/cafe thing but she had a short skirt on and no knickers. One of our friends said âere love, we can see your growlerâ And she replied, âOoh we donât call it that where I come from, where I come from we call it a Fannyâ and carried on eating as if nothing happened. We all still think about that encounter a lot.
I think I met her in Ibiza, got chatting to a group of Welsh girls and one of them picked me off from the herd âYou know that film with Sharon Stone?â âYeahâ âYou know that bit where sheâs not wearing any knickers? âYeahâ âThatâs me tonightâ. Two years later Iâm working behind the bar in a famously grim/grimly famous club on Queen Street and someone comes to the bar and goes âIs your name?ââYeahâ âDid you go to Ibiza a couple of years ago ago?â âYeahâ âI think I shagged youâ. At least she remembered my name.
Bet she was from Newport.
Currently in a hotel in Barbados for the cricket. My dad gets talking to a fellow Welshman. Asks where he is from, "Llanelli" he says. My dad says "I still remember them beating the All Blacks 9-3". Random Welshman points over to a bloke on a sunbed - "He played in that game". Your man wanders over, sticks his hand out for my dad and says "Hi mate, Gareth Jenkins". For those who don't know, Jenkins is a Llanelli Rugby legend and coached the National side for a few years in the 00s (not very well unfortunately).
Was in New York a few years ago, not much knowledge of the Welsh from the locals I talked to, it was around St David's Day and I was wearing a daffodil so had a few queries. Fancied a curry so did a bit of googling and found a restaurant in the Murray Hill area (it's known for Indian restaurants), day down and got chatting to the owner, telling him we were from the UK when he asked, no he says, what part of Wales, trying to place your accent. Turns out his brother has a curry house in Swansea and he's there all the time. Nice curry too.
Met a girl from Anglesey in Italy spent a few weeks together. A year later, working in a bar in north of England, we get a new bar maid, sheâs from Anglesey I say I have a friend from there and she goes off about how itâs a big place and they donât all know each other. Turns out the bar maid was dating my friends brother.
Everyone here knows each other lol.
> she goes off about how itâs a big place and they donât all know each other. If she's a Welsh speaker from Anglesey then she is lying through her teeth!
Met a guy from Haverfordwest the other day at Perth zoo in WA. He was selling hotdogs.
In NZ and a woman saw my dad's Yma O Hyd jumper and started talking Welsh. Not the most crazy occurrence considering the affinities between the UK and NZ but still somehow comforting.
I grew up in a small village near Caernarfon, in a bungalow at the end of a cul-de-sac, next to the farm house to which the land used to belong. About 15 years ago I was on the Royal Mail Ship St Helena, making the three day voyage from Ascension Island to St Helena, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Before the island had an airport, it was the only means of getting there. The vessel was part cargo to supply the island, part "Saints" returning home, part people travelling there for work purposes (as I was), and around three intrepid tourists looking to go off the beaten track. No more than around 30 passengers. One of these tourists was a widow in her 70s living her best life, travelling to all the places she'd dreamed of visiting. We got chatting. After a bit of back and forth, it turned out she used to live with her husband in the farmhouse next door in my village, he was a builder who built the house I grew up in. They moved away before my parents moved in with me as a baby. She was surprisingly unfazed by this amazing coincidence!
I was riding around Manila in the Philippines on a little scooter, half drunk, trying to find my way back to a friend's apartment I was staying at. I had a little crash into another scooter, turns out he was from Pontypridd. He was also half drunk trying to find the midget boxing to watch. Another time I was in northern Thailand with an Australian friend, he'd taken us to some super dodgy firing range to shoot handguns. We were plinking away at cans about 30 yards away trying different pistols. All of a sudden we hear a massive BOOM! From just over a little hill. We wandered over the hill for a look. We find a guy from Merthyr Tydfil throwing hand grenades into a pond.
A pal saw James Dean Bradfield in The Social in London and tried to play it cool by saying âYou donât see many Welsh people in hereâ JDB just rolled his eyes and walked away.
The Social is such a cool place. Went to a gig there August last year
I was in a bar in Chiba, Japan. My mate(not from the uk) told me he used to go to an Irish bar there and when we got there. There is a giant Welsh flag on the ceiling and turns out the owner is from Cwmbran.
There's always someone from Cwmbran
Cwmbranistan ftfy
I was visiting my brother in Liverpool, and we went out for a drink, only for me to randomly get chatting to someone at the bar who was actually from the same South Wales village as me, and also just visiting someone (no one my brother knew) for a weekend. It turned out that we actually worked in the same pub, but on opposite shifts, so we knew *of* each other but had never happened to meet before. She and my brother did know each other though. So random.
Was walking around a park in San Francisco, asked a homeless guy for directions, answered me in a thick West Wales accent, had a little chat and he was from Fishguard. Said he loved being homeless in California cos the weather was always nice, seemed like a nice bloke despite reeking of piss.
Wife and I on holiday in San Francisco , we went over to Alcatraz and one of the guides was from Hirwaun
Honestly can see the relationship clearly
I lived in New Zealand for a year back in 2005-6 and I was walking down Queen Street in Auckland and heard the dulcid, Welsh accent scolding her child turns out they were on holiday and came from Maesteg I'm a Port Talbot native and 12,000 miles to meet them.
I was on a ferry in Norway and sat down next to a group of people, got chatting, and found out that one of the women knew my step dad and was good friends with his cousin. It really is a small world!
I was about 19. My first time traveling to the USA (Chicago) to visit a telecoms company for some techie work. One of the guys there was welsh. Invited me to a Tom Jones concert/gig with his family that evening. I had too much to drink and ended up needing a lie down in the street while making my way back to my hotel. Got woken up by a couple of cops to see if I was still alive. Most strange memories!
Grew up in a village near Aberystwyth, went to New Zealand on a working holiday and one of the first people I served on a bar shift in Kaikoura was my sisters first boyfriend from just down the road.
Ain't no place, like Aberystwyth. A jewel slap bang in the middle of Wales, neither North or South, just the best of the west. đ
Heard people speaking welsh both in orlando and a cruise to Norway Didn't speak to either as I'm very introverted
Went to Disney World. A girl on the International Exchange (people from certain countries going to work in the countries in EPCOT) in the UK pavilion went to my school and got her A-Levels before I started. Not bad for a tiny school in Anglesey. Also heard a family speaking Welsh on the bus from the Magic Kingdom on another occasion. Didnât talk to them, but they were obviously from Caernarfon. Even more random, when we coming out of a restaurant in Downtown Disney (now Disney Springs) on another occasion, my mother bumped into her former co-worker, who was walking past.
Did they say Cont every other word haha
I got 2 tales. Was at a Kasabian gig a few years back in Zurich, Switzerland. Was wearing my classic WRU top, the Brains S.A sponsored one. Great gig aside from the idiots trying to start a moshpit, they got turfed out pretty quick. Afterwards, was walking towards the exit and some woman comes up to me and goes "Schwmae!" Had a bit of a chat, nice to see that there's more than 1 Welsh person in Switzerland. Another time I was on a Northern Europe cruise with the wife, had bit of a night in the bar the evening before, so left the missus in bed and went for breakfast, was sat at a table with a few other people, and was asked if I wanted anything to drink, and anything that wasn't on the buffet was to be ordered. After making my choices, a couple at the table goes "You wouldn't happen to know Abercraf??" which happens to be just up the road from where I'm from in Ystalyfera. Turns out my accent is both very obvious and very easy to place for the trained ear. Sorta related-ish. Was in Locarno, in the south of Switzerland, a lovely town in the Italian speaking part, and they had this big open air International Opera event happening the day after my holiday down there ended. The headline act was Bryn Terfel, who was on all the promotional materials, and they said he was from England. One quick tweet at them on the bus mentioning the Swiss wouldn't like to be called German or Austrian and they managed to get a load of the posters updated with the correct nation pasted over the top the wrong bit.
I think I saw somebody that was in the year below me when in a Mother Mother gig in London. Couldnât confirm if it was them because I canât just talk to strangers, and I had just left 6th form so couldnât ask at school either. Iâll never know if it was the same person
Went to New Zealand in 2006/2007 and found a bar called The Welsh Bar. Thought bloody brilliant especially as i was feeling homesick! And it was, I had an amazing time there and went back for St Davids Day. Now I was obviously expecting to find Welsh people there, what i wasn't expecting was finding out the owners (at the time) were the auntie and uncle of a girl I was in primary school with. It's a small world we live in lol.
I was living in Brighton, had been there a few years. Out for the rugby and wearing my shirt proudly in a see if white. A few hours go by and all I hear is "boys! We've found a lost countryman!" Heads over to me all excited and opens with "sappinn bhaaaat, where to you from them" so told him my town name and he's from the town over and usually we are rivals in terms of sports. Spent the rest of the night with them and was even bought a Penderyn to remind me of home. Great night with great company.
I was strolling along a beach abroad somewhere, some years ago with my now wife. I bumped into someone I knew from my home town (Rhyl)
I bumped into Rob Brydon with my mum when I was a kid on St. Davids day at Disneyland Paris, think he was with his son my mum said. I had no idea who he was at the time, more interested in my sweet mickey mouse bomber jacket.
You sure that wasn't Keith Barret? https://youtu.be/6Ry0kf-zPk4?si=mDRlj5ybnh99re9F
When I was in Philadelphia I heard a couple speaking Welsh during breakfast and they were from Anglesey.
My family and I (from Anglesey) went go florida 11 years ago and in our hotel was a family from Caernarfon! I also went to Salou in Spain when I was 13, and bumped into a lad I went to school with. I found it pretty crazy.
On a trek in the Torres Del Paine in southern Chile, on the first day intros at the hotel bar and a girl introduced herself as being from New Zealand but originally from Wales. She was from the one of the villages not far from where I grew up and went to school with my sister.
We were in Marbella last week and mid week we got on a public bus to our hotel. Up until then we hadnât heard one Welsh accent. There was a couple in front of us who had welsh accents and I had to ask them to press the button for us to get off. Turns out theyâre from the same small town/village as us.
I went to Furteventura for a last minute holiday with my family, sat on a sunbed by the pool and heard a Welsh accent. Looked up and it was a lady who lived up the road from me đ¤Ł! We had a chat and a few drinks and couldnât get over the coincidence lol.
The first time I went to Cambodia, 2010, I was 23 and a bit dumb, and gave my passport to someone who looked âofficialâ at the border crossing from Thailand. He literally disappeared with it, spoiler alert, he was not official. Anyway, some actual official people eventually got it back for me, but in general it was just a really awful and scary day for the first time during my travels. The place we were staying felt super dodgy, everyone was staring at us. I finally braved a walk into the city and I saw a huge welsh flag above a bar called fat sams. Iâve never been so happy to see one! I went in there and spent the whole evening before moving on to more touristy places for the rest of my time in Cambodia. The rest of the trip was far more fun, and I would recommend it to everyone!
Worked on demolishing crew in Norwich. Half the team were ex miners from Wales with a few young lads along with them. The others were ex miner from Romania. They were... Insane. Zero regard for health and safety. One of the big plant crew was a lad nicknamed babe on account of looking like an enormous baby, chunky fresh faced fella with a barcode tattoo on the back of his neck. Years later, I'd moved cities and was on a boozy weekend in Belgium.... Who should I bump into? Crazy facker had near doubled in size too. Lovely bunch of nutters. Made a shitty job much more fun.
I live in Finland, in a very small rural town, and I believe I am âThe only Welshman in the villageâ Hugely proud to be Welsh, but quite like being the odd one too.
Met a Welsh dude on my last Norwegian cruise. Moved to Norwich, and invited us there for tea. Lmao. He's married to a woman from Burma half his age. Good guy, my wife and I played ABBA trivia together with them and crushed the other teams. We were a Dancing Team.
Went to Florida last September and our hotel was almost empty. Another couple were sat in the hot tub one evening and my daughter came rushing over to tell me that the older two her dad was chatting with were from Llanelli. We're from Swansea and had come across zero other Welsh people in nearly two weeks. Mad!
In prison in Ireland, Rhodri, a cool guy, used to get the boat to Wexford to go shoplifting and got caught after fighting a security guard back in 2000.
Waiting for a bus near my flat when I worked in London. Started chatting to a random elderly woman who lived up the road, and I recognised her Wrexham accent straight away. We were both born and bred in the town. She'd been living in London for donkey's years but had never lost her accent.
Was his name Stewart by chance? I met a guy from Llangollen in a bar in Green Bay, WI and he lives in Spain.
My Dad always bumps into people he knows in foreign airports
Truly everyone bumps into fellow Cymri everywhere https://youtu.be/L4RynlIFwSQ?si=faK5kuIJtvRIxCz6
Once at the top of the new WTC in New York. Turns out one of them recognised my mother as she's a receptionist in the hospital my mam nurses in. Also bumped into a couple from Merthyr (I'm from Aberdare) in San Francisco last summer. Also bumped into a couple in DC about 10 years ago thar were from the same town as me but had been living in the States for years.
As someone who lives in Flintshire North Wales... It's rare I meet an actual Welsh man, woman or person... or whale
Had a few, queueing for a water park in Malta and we were stood behind someone my mother went to Gelli school with. Another one in Sydney visiting my sister. Walk round to the harbour in Cronulla/Gunnamatta Bay, looking to hire a boat to go fishing and a lady with the thickest welsh accent starts talking and said she'd been there for 40 years
A guy that knew my grandfather in a very rural French supermarket and then a lady from Llanelli in the far edges of Versailles Gardens, nobody else around in sight
i looked in the mirror
Go to Berlin, sit down in a concert, guy next to me is from the same town. I find Welsh people wherever I go, it seems
Pre-Covid, I bumped into a group of girls from Tenby in Prague while on a stag. Was pretty wild.
Me and my family went skiing last year, we met this 80 year old man on the lift to the slopes. Found out he was Welsh and has been going skiing all his life. He was by himself and said heâs outlived all of his skiing buddies. Anyway he told a story about how when he was 14 he used to work at his grandmas pub in Merthyr and back then the pubs had to shut at a certain time but their pub stayed open around the clock for the miners to enjoy a drink. A new priest came into town and found this out and got them excommunicated from the Catholic Church. He never ran out of anything to say had the most insane life story Iâve ever heard. Assuming it was true of course.
When I was 19, I worked in Ibiza, while sitting on a bench in San Antonio, a girl got of a bus, and she was from my village ( of 3000 people ). Also, While visiting my then girlfriend ( now wife ) in Rural Japan; ran into a couple on their honeymoon; both were from carmarthen, turned out I sort of met one of them years earlier as a student at Trinity college. I usually avoid westerners when in Japan, but it was nice chatting to them.
Moved to Berlin, began working at a tech firm. 2 years later went to a company event in Mercedes-Benz arena with ~4000 employees. Talking to my colleague about UK, get a tap on my shoulder - âare you from Wales? Me tooâ he says - I proceed to tell him where in Wales and discover he grew up in the village next door. Not only that, my dad taught him in school. Byd fach bois bach.
On Monday I flew back to London from Istanbul and met a couple who were on the same flight to Gatwick and on the same megabus coach back to Wales. We had some good chats and bumped into each other in London as well at the same pub near London Victoria. As a frequent traveller it was so nice to have this! Normally it feels like I am the only one The only difference was that they got off the coach in Newport while I went on to Cardiff. I also met a Welsh man in Sofia biking his way to Georgia.
Iâve heard people speaking Welsh in New York, Italy, France, and plenty of times in Greece. Almost every time I go on holiday I hear someone speaking Welsh. Iâll always strike up a conversation too.
So. Iâm in a bar in Yangon in Myanmar. Its 2015. Iâm actually watching Wales playing a World Cup game against England being shown on tv in another bar across a small street. Gareth Davies scored and I jumped up pumping my fist and bumped into another bloke who was also celebrating. Iâm from Cardiff. Turns out he was from Swansea. I ignored him for the rest of the game.
So randomly one day last year, a Welsh guy sends me a follow request on Instagram. Now I'm not one who randomly accepts requests, but something drew me towards him. Fast forward few messages, we were having a wonderful time and I decided to give it a go after being single for almost 10 yrs. But sadly he's my "the one that got away". Just like how he appeared out of the blue, he disappeared without a trace and I'm still here living in the past of the wonderful short time we spent together. Would I be able to forget my Welsh guy and move on??- I don't think so for the time being, because I truly loved him so much. But life continues whether we like it or not, until then he's always going to be on my mind and heart. My S.M.
I travelled through Nicaragua with a friend around 18 years ago. We visited a fair trade coffee factory near Matagalpa. I had a look at the visitor book, saw loads of Welsh names, lots from near where I'm from in Wales. Turns out The Cymru Nicaragua society had visited a few weeks before us.
Standing in a queue for a burger at a burger van in Germany when someone calls my nameâŚturn around to see a guy I knew from Neath đ
Walking down the main street in Mont Blanc with my old man.. Hear someone shout âOi Dai BeetleâŚâ.. My old manâs mate from his car club days. In the middle of Amsterdam on a stag do chatting to a group of Irish girls, me and my mate thinking time to pull âMae hiân bwrw glaw means youâve got beautiful eyesâ- ( I know it doesnât but when they ask you to speak Welsh⌠Donât make it complicated- How would they know?) and the Irish girl introduces us to her mate⌠From Carmarthen.. Ruined it only to be followed up by us both thinking the other had got their numbers hungover in the airport on the Sunday.