Hello, this is episode 44 of Libero, the podcast about the most important of the least important things, as Pia Luigi Tessarad used to say.

I'm Rory Smith of The Observer and Men in Blazers, and I've been on holiday for two weeks, so I'm expecting at least one person to say I've got a nice tan.

Those two people tasked with saying I've got a nice tan are the independence Medell Delaney, a man who's previously described holidays as been the empty gift of capitalism, and the Athletic James Horncastle, whose life does largely resemble a holiday, but also sometimes has to spend quite a lot of time finding out if Bologna are going to sell someone to Nottingham Forest. I've missed you both terribly. How have you been, Medell?

I've actually been away as well, a bit of a tan myself, you know. Nice tan. You look lovely. It looked very brown. Not very brown, Medell. Sam was that. Yeah, well, I was in Spain in 38, 39 degree heat. Oh, that's too many, there's too many degrees. Look, I like heat, but that is too much. Was that in the Basque adjacent region that you're from?

That is Navarra, yeah, is too much. Was that in the Basque-adjacent region that you're from?

That is Navarra, yeah, yeah, which does get hot in the summer. Yeah, that's almost like, you couldn't play a World Cup in that. You certainly couldn't, and they're going to try. And Horny, I happen to know that you have been eating Pids and Blankets in Puglia. I have Pigs and Blankets, Lens Waller Di Maile, which they are not called.

They are called Bombay. seeing pigs and blankets in Puglia? I have pigs and blankets,

Lenzuela di Maiale, which they are not called. They are called Bombete,

little bombs. Now I went to an amazing place in a small village in Puglia called Cisternino.

It's called Bogo Antico. And it feels like you're walking into a butcher's rather than in a

restaurant because it's just a counterful of meat.

And a friend I was with goes there every year.

And as soon as he saw him, he basically reached out his fist to do like a fist bump and then turned around open the fridge and just brought out a plate of sweetbreads, which is just how they treat you in the south of Italy. There you go. That is a weird vibe, though, isn't it? They're like, oh, I know this guy. This guy likes the liver. That is. He does. Yeah, my friend accidentally... Or his liver guy's battered yet. He accidentally ordered 50 pieces, which is a hell of a lot. And then if you order on the menu,

you realise that most of the things on the menu in that part of Italy are Asino,

which is donkey.

Really?

Yeah.

Did you have some Asina?

No, I did not have any donkey.

But I never thought about eating a donkey.

I don't think I could.

I know this doesn't sound ridiculous to vegetarians and vegans,

...