That's a lovely story.
In another life before I moved over here my mate and I had flings with a couple of Basque girls in London.
We went over to see them but beforehand we learnt how to say "The Basques are the best" in Basque. It won us friends (and beers) everywhere, especially with the girls' families who were beyond delighted.
Neither he nor I have ever forgotten it, here's a phonetic version...
Eh-oo-skal-da-nak onna-nak dira
That last word almost rhymes with the names Vera or Keira but with a short /i/ sound, as in "it" or "big".