A few miles outside of Bologna at the top of a hill sits the Sanctuary of San Luca, a Basilica offering incredible views of Bologna and the surrounding landscape. Beginning in 1433 the faithful have participated in a religious pilgrimage up the long hill to the Sanctuary. The Portico di San Luca is a covered walkway consisting of 666 arches built between 1674 and 1793 that lead from the city of Bologna all the way up to the Sanctuary. At 3.8 kilometers long it’s the longest continuous portico in the world, and together with the numerous other porticos in Bologna, are a UNESCO world heritage site.

After waking up well rested today, we decided to check out the Sanctuary. The climb up the hill is strenuous, and we didn’t want to burn out, so we took the San Luca Express, a tourist train/bus that makes the climb while giving an audio tour of the history of the area. We bought our tickets and had a few minutes to spare, so we stopped in a café for a quick Italian breakfast of espresso and croissants (and an orange…).

The breakfast orange saga, as told by Penelope: Phineas saw some oranges and asked for one. The employee was trying to explain that they were for fresh squeezed juice, and was asking Phineas if he wanted some orange juice but Phineas didn’t understand and kept asking for the orange. After several back and forths, the man just gave up and just handed Phineas the orange. While we waited for our espressos, Phineas hunched over the trashcan peeling his orange. I looked over and asked if he wanted help because his orange was peeled too deep and was covered in slippery juice. He said no but one minute later he had no orange and sheepishly explained that he accidently dropped it in the trach can. Since there was only an empty bottle or 2 in the trashcan, we told him that if he just washed if off in the bathroom it would be fine . Apparently he really wanted that orange so he got down on his knees and dug through the trash can until he retrieved it. As he was in the bathroom cleaning his orange the rest of us were joking that it couldn’t possibly get funnier. Buuutttt when he came out of the bathroom with his head down and NO orange we were confused until he said he was on take two of peeling the orange when he dropped it in the trash can AGAIN and gave up. WE LAUGHED LIKE CRAZY PEOPLE FOR 10 MINUTES STRAIGHT.

After breakfast we were off to the San Luca Express. I’ve been calling it a train/bus for lack of a better name. It’s basically an adult sized version of those little kid trains that tour around outdoor shopping malls. So it drives on the road like a bus instead of on a track like a train. And the sides are open for better views on the 30 minute ride. The Sanctuary was nice, but the views from the top of the hill were absolutely incredible. We paid for access to the very top of the Sanctuary and it was well worth the climb up the long circular stone staircase. Heading down the hill is way less work than climbing up the hill, so we decided to forgo the train/bus down and walk the 2+ miles of porticos. Near the end we passed through a more residential area of Bologna and stopped for a light lunch before our cooking class later in the evening.