the day we saw a lot of old stuff in Rome.

I don't know if I mentioned this or not, but anywhere you go in Italy there are lines everywhere. Sometimes you can just stick it out, but after a while it just gets old.

waiting in line is F-U-N! 

There is always an alternative... for the right price, that is. Anywhere there is a line in Italy, there is a tour group willing to offer you a guided tour plus a free pass to jump the line. Usually for about double what you would pay normally. Of course, being the cheap people that we are, Matthew and I opted for the slower, more economic virtue of patience.

Until our last day, that is. What I dubbed as "old stuff day" was scheduled as our day to visit the Colosseum and Forum (aka old stuff). And since neither of us knew much about the two, we decided if we were going to blow our money anywhere, we should do it here. So we cashed out the 28€ (as opposed to the normal entry price of 12€, I believe) for a combined tour of both the Colosseum and the Forum and waited for our tour guide. 

don't I make a great gladiator?

this was right before we lost each other for the next hour or so. Oops. 

Let's just say the tour of the Colosseum left us wildly unimpressed and feeling a little embarrassed of the scam we apparently just bought into. But it was still an amazing place. 

When it was time for the second part of the tour, though, things started looking up. We got a new tour guide and had a tour that, by itself, was worth the 28€. 

So in the end, the paid tours can definitely be worth it if you're up for it!