05/04/2026
The Eternal City, I thought to myself as the plane began its descent into Fiumicino. I had 12 hours in Rome before my next flight. My only memory of this place was from 10 winters ago. I was 16, tromping cobblestones in my brown Ugg boots. Recalling this memory evoked a sense of wonder in me. I wanted to see it again, eager to look deeper this time.
My mom had a guide she swore by: Amandio, the one all her travelers raved about. I messaged him. He was free for an evening bike ride through the city’s best corners. I left my parents to the shops on Via Condotti and headed to a little bike shop in Trastevere to meet him.
Some random thoughts from my 3-hour bike ride:
• Viewpoints usually never make it to my tourist agenda, but the right ones can change your perspective. Piazzale Garibaldi was one of them.
• Stopped at Piazza del Popolo and remembered that Da Vinci Code scene. Is there really a tunnel below me leading to the Vatican? I’ll never know, but I like that Rome makes you wonder.
• Biking on cobblestones? Not exactly easy.
• How the hell did sculptors make a piece of rock look so damn perfect? I thought, as I stared in awe at Bernini’s angels on Ponte Sant’Angelo.
• has only 4 gelato flavours and they are all insane.
• Trastevere is so originally charming. The enotecas and osterias have their own character. Everything is so tiny, I’m like Alice in Wonderland in here.
If you have a few hours in Rome, take a bike ride with a local guide. It’s a fun and efficient way to get a feel of the city — its streets, its scale, its smells — with history woven in. Rome is beautiful on its own, but hearing the tales of its monumental past brings its eternal soul to life.
sometimes the best way to see a city is to leave the plan loose and follow a local who knows. this is the kind of travel we design: intentional but never rigid.
