Reggio Emilia: A Day Trip from Bologna

Our days of waking up at the crack of dawn to get ready and rush off to go sightseeing are long over. These days, we’re more relaxed about exploring.

That said, we are realizing that if we are going on a day trip — especially somewhere less tourist-oriented — we need to consider picking up the pace at home and not dally too much. Maybe just grabbing a cappuccino and cornetto from a pasticceria instead of having a sit down breakfast at home would help.

You see, there’s this thing called siesta here, and sometimes that adversely impacts our plans. That was the case today. In our defense, when we checked the hours of operation for a few of the sites at our destination, there was no indication of siesta closures.

Regardless, we had a great time in Reggio Emilia … a less touristy charming city and the birthplace of the Italian Tricolor flag. But we had to switch our plans around a bit and focus more on a stroll and lunch than visiting specific places.

Leaving the apartment around 10:30a, we hopped on a bus to get to Bologna Centrale … a test run, if you will, to see how the bus system works … paying for our tickets by tapping with Apple Pay. While some buses turn into the train station to drop off passengers, this one left us across the street.

Once in the station, we purchased our tickets for the 11:35a train, opting to pay for the slightly more expensive InterCity train to save time … €10pp … Reggio Emilio the second stop on the line. We arrived at our destination about 25 minutes ahead of schedule. Not sure how that happened, but no complaints.

A meandering 20-minute walk to Centro Storico — as per Google Maps — took a bit longer since we stopped for a few photos along the way. Eventually, we arrived at Piazza Prampolini … in the heart of the historic center. The square was hopping with a market that was doing a bustling business selling clothing, household linens, and the like.

This square is overlooked by the Duomo … Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta; the clock tower, and the city hall … which is also where one finds the Tricolor Hall. We only had a chance to go inside the cathedral, which was built in 857 and modified several times over the centuries.

I was really hoping to see the 4th century Roman mosaic floor that was discovered under the Duomo, but we were barely inside when the caretaker began locking the doors. He was nice enough to give me a chance to run around and take a few photos, and might have allowed me to see the mosaic floor as well, but I didn’t want to take advantage of his kindness.

After wandering around the market and taking photos of the clock tower at the far end of the piazza, we walked through the Broletto Passage to Piazza di S. Prospero … behind the cathedral and overlooked by the basilica for which the square is named.

Spotting tables set up in the square, we decided to check it out for lunch. The prices were in line with what we’ve seen at places that cater to the locals and the menu looked good. Although it was a little cool in the shade, we opted to sit in the square and combine our meal with people watching.

Sipping a glass of Lambrusco, a regional sparkling wine made with black grapes, we perused the menu — €13 for a main course, water … plain or fizzy, coffee or dessert. I ordered the spinach tortellini served with sage butter; Mui ordered a platter of cold cuts accompanied by Stracchio (Italian cream cheese, if you will) and warm tigelle (small round flatbreads … originally from Modena). Dessert — rice cake, a local specialty, and a lemon cake — wrapped up our tasty lunch.

After our meal break, we strolled around the historic center, burning off some of the calories from lunch and continuing to explore the city. We window-shopped, got lost in narrow side streets, and peeked into a couple of churches where we found the doors open. Eventually, taking a meandering route back, we returned to the train station for the 3:35p regional train back to Bologna … a few more stops than our train this morning; a 45-minute ride; €7pp.

From the train station, we hopped on a bus that took us close to Piazza Maggiore where we went to Windtre, our Italian cell service provider, to renew our monthly plan. And then a slow stroll to the apartment where we put up our feet for a quiet evening at home.

Another great day of exploring what the region offers … even if we had to jiggle our plans a bit.Read more