When you first get to the colosseum you are greeted by a huge line up in the hot roman sun but if you walk around the corner you find the entrance to the forum the tick covers both the forum and the colosseum and as a bonus a tiny line, saved me about 2 hours of line up at the colosseum just went straight into the ticket holders entrance.

Not quite a bar, not quite a book shop. Rivendita Libri, Cioccolata e Vino is tucked away in a corner on Vicolo del Cinque 11. It's part bookstore, part bar, part wine shop. Get there early because after 9 there's a line out the door and around the corner for their infamous chocolate shots. Little shot glasses made of chocolate that are filled with alcohol and syrup based on what flavor you choose. Mint and Hazelnut are my two favorite options. The chocolate shot is topped with whipped cream and eaten from the bottom up all for about 3 euro. It's quite the experience and there were just as many Italians in line as tourists.

For those of you who aren't opposed to cheating the system a little, Rome's bus system is pretty easy to use without having to pay for it. Ideally, passengers are supposed to either swipe their pass (usually for locals who add value to their card for constant usage) or buy a one-way pass and insert it into the machine on the bus for a stamp. If any transportation officials come on to check, you should either have a long-term pass or a one-way ticket stamped within 100 minutes of that time. However, the bus driver pretty much doesn't monitor whether or not you've swiped/stamped any sort of ticket, so many people just ride the bus without one. I found it best to keep an unstamped one-way ticket with me just in case an inspector were to come around and check (nobody ever did during my entire weeklong stay), but otherwise I rode the buses back and forth all over town only paying for one journey the entire time.

The men dressed like Trojans with plastic swords and Roman soldier helmets are not employed by the Colosseum or the ancient Roman government. If they use your camera to take your picture, you may be shaken down for a few bucks. In my case, they were hoping I wouldn't convert the money in my head quickly enough and asked for $50 American for taking one picture of me! It's a good thing the history and beauty of the Colosseum and surrounding ruins overshadowed any negative experience by a long shot.