Trek to Madonna di San Luca

What a view.  The Sanctuary of the Madonna di San Luca sits on a hill just outside of central Bologna and just a short 2km walk to the church under the world's longest portico.  Now Bologna is famous for it's porticos, the covered sidewalks of about 40km crisscross the city providing shade and protection from the elements; naturally I thought we should walk the world's longest one. Free advice, if your wife is recovering from an upper respiratory infection maybe you shouldn't do that walk; but my wife, she is tough when she needs to be and hardheaded many other times, so a little illness is not getting in our way.  We huffed and puffed and climbed from the Meloncello bus stop all the way to the top of that hill, I love that lady. (BTW you can buy a 10Euro ticket and ride a little tram to the top, but what kind of memories does that make?  I did say it was the world's longest portico didn't I?)




Note the Bologna Futbol Club's stadium in the background.  Naturally the season ended a week before we arrived, looks like we'll need to return to our home away from home sometime soon.


Sanctuary of Madonna di San Luca



Once up to the church there was naturally a ticket you could buy, the San Luca Sky Experience, to climb the way to the dome and have a view from the top.  I am not passing up any tower climbs on this trip so up I went, Kathie took a break in the garden area while I squeezed my way up about 200 steps, literally sideways and ducking at different points, to get the view of Bologna and beyond.

Pano:  Bologna sprawling out from the foothills of the Apennine mountains.


A short video from the top.

Mandatory selfie.


The rest of the day was restful, a little stroll around Piazza Maggiore, the heart of Bologna, as they prepare for their film festival.  Pretty cool thing as they project movies in the town square throughout the summer.  There's a real sense of community in Italy that comes from the time people spend together on the town square walking and talking nearly every evening.





We then enjoyed a wonderful bottle of wine and some great food at Cesare once again, no way I was leaving Bologna without saying arrivederci to my "fratello" Ricardo.  Side note, we ran into a group of diners who I approached because one guy was wearing a Rhinegeist brewery t-shirt.  Yes, Cincy made!  Interestingly enough the two guys had just been to Cincinnati, really enjoyed the town and the brewery, the other was proudly wearing Rhinegeist socks he happily displayed!  Good stuff Cinci, let's hold our head high!

Buy this wine if you can find it, Umberto Cesare vineyard, so tasty.


Eat this while in Bologna, Gramignone verde al ragu di salsiccia. This is Ricardo's grandfather's recipe, so good.


Another big walking day, 19,664 steps.  Ciao bella!







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