San Luca...and Sara

After eating my way through Bologna, I decided to explore the city and burn some calories. And oh baby, did I ever!

Bologna is beautiful.  The sidewalks throughout the city are covered by beautiful, arched porticos.

In many places, the undersides of the porticos have gorgeous frescoes painted on them. I spent hours walking while staring up at the gorgeous ceilings. I *may* have crashed into a few people, but can you blame me? Look at these ceilings!

The porticos began out of necessity.  The worlds first university, the University of Bologna, was founded here in 1008. As the university population grew, the city needed more space.  Home owners began "bumping" their homes out above the sidewalks, creating the first porticos. Over time, the government created a set of guidelines...they had to be wide enough for several people to walk next to each other and tall enough that a man on his horse could walk through without dismounting.

That's when the portico culture in Bologna took off!

There is no greater example of the beauty and function of the porticos than The Portico of San Luca, a 3.7km (2.3mi) covered stretch of porticos that winds its way up the side of a mountain.
A popular pilgrim route for the devout to visit the Madonna,  I decided to hike the route, enjoy a unique experience and burn off some ragu!

                                 Part of the San Luca path, with the Sanctuary di San Luca at the top center of the photo

The Portico of San Luca is the largest covered portico in the world and contains 666 arches.  The path was built to protect the miraculous icon of the Madonna (photo at end) during the yearly procession to the cathedral in the center of Bologna (where the icon resides during the week of Ascension) up the hill to the The Sanctuary of the Madonna di San Luca (where it resides the other 51 weeks of the year). They couldn't very well let the Madonna get rained on!

When the church isn't using the San Luca path to transport the Madonna, it's travelled by pilgrims, local Bolognese in need of a good workout and the occasional fearless tourist...like me!

I knew it would be a somewhat strenuous hike and mentally prepared myself for tons of stairs and climbing.  It STILL took me by surprise, you guys.  It starts off relatively flat and easy. I strolled along, admiring the beauty of the archways, the city center, smiling at people as they passed by me.

But after a few kilometers, the path begins to climb up the mountain...and from that point on, the climb never stops.

                                            Where the San Luca path begins to climb up the mountain... 

Some sections are moderate (below), while others are so steep you can barely walk up them. I found myself thinking "Come on! This is way too steep. This should just be stairs!"

                               

And then, I regretted thinking that because suddenly, the steep ascent turns into stairs. And when I say stairs, I mean hundreds and hundreds of stairs. The stairs stretch farther ahead than you can even see. 

I understand why they call San Luca a pilgrimage hike.  Devoutly religious people train their thoughts on God during the tough moments of the hike. I am not a religious person, so my thoughts bounced around, my brain looking for something to distract me from the task at hand.

I thought of my travels, my family and my friends at home. I thought of a friend going through a trying time and made a note to text him when I got back to my hotel. And then I found myself thinking of Sara.

For the last 18 months, my friend Sara was the best workout buddy, boot camp buddy, HIIT workout buddy and triathlon buddy a girl could ask for. We squatted, ran, swam, biked and planked for hours on end. We challenged, supported and pushed each other through workouts. Sara would challenge me to do ridiculous things like 75 consecutive squats. "No way! I can't do 75 squats!" I'd protest. Sara always smiled (or was it smirking?) said the same thing,"Yes, you can."

It was so annoying.  Sara was always right.

I could always do the number of squats she came up with, or the number of crunches, or medicine ball tosses, or curls. I could, in fact, run up the hill by Georgia Tech that I thought was impossible. I could do 75 squats. I could hold plank another 5 seconds. She seemed to know that my body would do whatever I demanded if I'd just get my head right.

So on the cold January day in Bologna, I thought of Sara and the list of titles I'd added to my list in the last year. Triathlete. Runner. Squatter. Boot-camper. Bad ass.  My thighs screamed in protect as I climbed onward. I thought "I don't think I can do this."
I heard Sara's voice saying "Yes, you can."

At one point, I paused to catch my breath and 2 very fit and very glamorous Italian women passed me as they headed down the mountain. They asked if I was okay and informed me that the next section was the most strenuous. They suggested in broken English that perhaps I shouldn't continue?

For a moment, I tried to see myself as they must have seen me.  An out-of-breath, chubby American girl, probably a couch potato,  bent over, sucking wind, red faced. A girl like me has no (apparent) business hiking San Luca!

I was suddenly annoyed. I stood up and flashed them a smile.  I almost suffocated as I forced myself to breathe normally. "No, I'm perfectly fine, thank you," I said and while they exchanged a worried glance between them, I started climbing again.

Sure, my thighs touch. But they are also big, strong and muscular.  I've earned titles recently.  I'm a triathlete! I'm a runner!  I am a bad ass!

As if on cue, the universe responded.  Just outside the portico on the road, an older Italian man easily passed me RUNNING and waved. A few moments later, he was followed by a guy on a bike, who stayed in the saddle on the way up and SMILED at me as he passed.

Show-offs.

I kept going.
After climbing for about 40 minutes, I turned a corner and saw a huge set of stairs. Just as I'd been told, the end of San Luca is obvious. There is a light at the end of the tunnel...literally!  And if you squint (or zoom your camera), you can just barely make out a cross.

If Sara was here, she'd tell me to run these stairs.  And she'd probably smirk at me. That's the thing about our friends. Their voices are with us even when we're half a world away, on the top of a mountain, facing a huge flight of stairs when your thighs feel like Jell-o.

"I cannot possibly run these stairs..." I thought.
And this time it was my voice.  "Yes you can."
So I ran. And I counted.
162 stairs and it was all over. I was at the cross. I almost kissed it.

                                                                              Big smiles at the top of San Luca...

The view from on top of San Luca is spectacular (my photos don't do it justice at all).

And of course, you can visit the exquisite Sanctuary of the Virgin Mary, overlooking the city of Bologna.

Inside is beautiful...

And last, but not least, you have to pay a visit to the Madonna painting that inspired The Portico of San Luca's creation.
                                             

                                 The San Luca Madonna painting, secure beneath it's protective metal covering.

I stood quietly for a few minutes, admiring the painting and catching my breath. Suddenly, it occurred to me that I'd earned a new title.  I glanced around and realized I was all alone. Just me and Mary.

"Hey Mary," I whispered in the quiet sanctuary.  "I'm a pilgrim."

I could have sworn she smiled (smirked) at me.