# Gelati: 2, Distance Walekd: 16.2km, # Floors Climbed: 44
Once again I had a leisurely morning, getting up late, eating a leisurely breakfast and spending way too long on my Italian revision. I didn't set out until 10:30am. The plan had been to walk to a park on the outskirts of the city, amble around it and read my grammar book for a bit. However, by the time I got to the outskirts it was well after 11am and it was turning out to be a warm, sunny day. I decided to skip the park and walk up to the Sanctuary of the Madonna of San Luca. I walked up to that church last time I was here. I remember it was a far-ish distance out of town but you could walk under porticos the whole way so you weren't walking in the sun. This is true. What I had forgotten is that it is also a far way uphill from town. Below is a picture of the city from the sanctuary. If you squint really hard I think you can just about see the two towers in the city centre.
When I got to the sanctuary I had more problems. There wasn't a lot of space to sit. There were spots in the shade and there were comfortable spots to sit, but all the comfortable, shady spots seemed to be occupied by nuns. They seemed perfectly happy to stay put for hours. Nobody was rude enough to ask them to move along. I settled for a shady spot.
My Italian is improving slowly. I did manage to buy all my food today in Italian. I got a panino with prosciutto & cheese from a deli, my morning gelati (pistachio and zabaglione - Good) and my afternoon gelato (pistachio and orange with candied almonds - Decent) without lapsing into English. Small victories.
For dinner I went to a restaurant that specialises in Roman food, Osteria Da Fortunata. It had been recommended to me on a food tour I took last time. It was worth the recommendation as the food is all very Good. I started with a zucchini flower stuffed with mozzarella then I had strozzapreti alla carbonara and finished with zabaglione again. I am now pleasantly full. I'm glad I didn't order their tiramisu. The people at the next table did. It looked tasty but about 3 times the size it needed to be.
No more leisurely starts tomorrow as classes start. Let's hope the brain functions.
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