In Northern Italy, there is a small town called Reggio Emilia. I have recently fallen in love with Reggio Emilia due to it’s quaint country feel and huge historic value. Most tourists would look right over this province since it is not as popular as Tuscany, Rome, or any of the other tourist’s sections in Italy. I, however, found this town while researching for study abroad. I can’t wait to tell you more about it!

In Reggio, there are restaurants, shops, and historic buildings, just like your typical town. But, there is something very special about this town. It is the home of Italy’s tri-color flag! You can find the Tricolor’s Room in City Hall among the other artifacts in the museum. I never knew that the flag was adopted in such an unknown town! I guess you do learn something new every day. Another cool thing I found out is that there is a parmesan factory called Parmigiano Reggiano. This is amazing to me since I absolutely love food. I love adventuring and trying new things that I would not find in America. Some of the most popular things in Reggio Emilia are cheese, (as mentioned before) and balsamic vinegar! As M says in her blog, “Married to Italy”, “You must be a foodie to appreciate everything that Reggio has to offer”. I fully plan on taking her advice and trying everything I can get my hands on! I cannot wait to see what is for dinner.

Besides all of the amazing food, Reggio is known to be “purty darn country, with piggy poo and hay bales everywhere” according to the “Married to Italy” blog. Coming from South Carolina, this makes me even more excited to go to Reggio! It is also sister cities with Ft. Worth, Texas. This clearly makes it far more interesting since I get to experience Italy AND Texas at the same time. Talking about being country and our “lack of education”, I won’t forget to mention that Reggio Emilia is also a teaching method! How cool?! The method encourages students to learn what interests them instead of just having to stay attached to the required classes/curriculum. This is sort of like Montessori in the United States which also gives our educators a chance to learn more from a different country if they took this program as well!

Going back to the city part, Reggio is very clean since everything they have is the original. They take pride in their province and are very friendly people. They are always excited to get tourists since the province is rarely visited by internationals. Rachelle Lucas from, “The Travel Bite” blog, mentions how one gentleman stopped them in the street to show them “his building’s courtyard so we could admire the stone lace frescoed walls while he explained to us the history of the construction”. It means so much to me already that these locals take such pride in their buildings and city.

I look forward to all my adventures no matter where I end up going!