Lost in Reggio Emilia

It’s never a good idea to arrive in an unfamiliar town on a Sunday after lunch (everything is shut), with a dead flat phone, no map and no instructions on how to find your accommodation. This is how I rolled into Reggio Emilia.

I thought I would ask for help at the station. What I got from the guy at the ticket office was “dritto poi a destra”.

I did good till I got to the Piazza del Tricolore. Then, which right got hazy and maybe I was righting too soon?

I asked people for help by asking where the address of the accommodation was. “Mi scusi, puo dirmi dove Via San Giuseppe? ” (Yes, this wasn’t strictly correct but I was doing my best).No one seemed to know. What I didn’t realise was that I was asking for the tiniest most obscure alleyway in Reggio Emilia and that metres from it’s door was one of the biggest Piazza in Reggio Emilia and everyone would’ve known that.

After an extra hour of walking in a big circle, towing my bag behind me, getting a bit sweaty, I finally got the right road and the rest was easy peasy.

The walk from the train for a good part of the way to the historic center does not do Reggio Emilia justice. But part way it gets good…fashion and food emerges.

I got the hat!

Once in the center it is a very lovely place to be.

Bikes are everywhere, it’s got an Amsterdam vibe.

We made friends and I stayed 3 nights. 🙂

This picture has 3 layers, there’s me enjoying aperitivo hour, there’s the two tables in front of me with regulars, (we were all here every evening of the 3 nights I spent in town), and in the distance, there is the local blokes having their evening get together.