We Heard the Angels Sing.

We had high expectations of Rome. We were not disappointed! Although with hindsight I would say avoid the city at Easter.

After an easy flight from Dubai and a short train ride on the Leonardo Express from Fiumicino Airport to Roma Stazione, we were looking forward to seeing the Pension that would be our home for the next week.

Resisting the taxi touts outside the station, we took a cab from the taxi rank to the Pension Paradise in the genteel inner suburb of Prati. And it was a little paradise for us.

Our third floor room, although small, oozed charm and character. The building, several stories high, was typical Rome - large double fronted doors at street level opening on to a courtyard with stairs on either side and, happily for us with our excessively heavy luggage, a lift. Luigi and the other staff were warm and friendly and most generous with their advice. Best of all, the Lepanto Metro Station was located right outside the front door.

Rome is a city for walking around - however the Metro was our preferred way of getting to the major attractions - the Spanish Steps, the Coliseum, etc. Nevertheless we did a huge amount of walking - well and truly breaking in my new walking shoes - as I set out on my mission to see as many as possible of the Caravaggios to be found in Rome.

With his paintings scattered over several churches and galleries, it reached the point where Julie tired of me pointing out Caravaggio's use of chiaroscuro every time we found another of his masterpieces.

St Peter's Basilica and the Vatican Museums were only 15 minutes walk from our accommodation. However it took almost 90 minutes of queuing to get into the Vatican - a wait that was made pleasant in the warm Spring sunshine by our first taste of real Italian gelati.

Michelangelo's Ceiling in the Sistine Chapel is breathtaking. The vibrancy of the colours and the beauty of the images depicted by the great artist are truly remarkable. However, when seen in context with all the other painted surfaces in the chapel, the effect of it all is quite over-powering. Maybe that is the intention, but it seems to me a pity that the chapel's walls are not just white-washed so that you could appreciate Michelangelo's story of the creation without all the other images competing for attention.

After taking in the seemingly endless treasures of the Vatican we decided to return to St Peter's on another day. For me the highlight of the Vatican Museums is the Caravaggio in the Pinacoteca.

Easter is obviously big in Roma. I would therefore have thought that one of the holiest day in the Christian Calender - Good Friday - would have been observed in Rome with great solemnity. But it was business as usual with shops and restaurants going full bore to cater for all the visitors.

We decided to visit the Spanish Steps and, after weaving our way through the throng of tourists perched and sunning themselves all over the steps, we entered the church at the top just in time to attend a Mass sung in French by a choir with the voices of angels. That's as close as I come to having a religious experience - hearing the voices of the tenors and the boy sopranos floating through the beautiful church. Moving, but in a joyous and celebratory way. Certainly not what I expected on Good Friday.

Never did find out why the service was in French?

Of course during our stay in Rome we visited all the usual haunts - the Coliseum, the Trevi Fountain, the Roman Ruins and the Pantheon, etc. However as proud agnostics/atheists our original intention was to be at St Peter's Square on Easter Sunday to receive the Pope's blessing. (After all - when in Rome, do as the Romans do.) But after experiencing the large crowds at the Vatican and learning that in excess of 500,000 people were expected to attend, we decided to be elsewhere on the big day.

We had pre-purchased tickets for the Galleria Borghese knowing that it is usually booked out several days in advance at Easter. This beautiful gallery houses a wonderful collection of paintings and sculptures - including works by Caravaggio. We stayed for the maximum 2 hours allowed by our tickets.

We also spent many hours on two different days wandering through the extensive public gardens that extend from the Piazza del Popolo to the Galleria Borghese. This is obviously where the Romans come to chill out and was definitely one of the highlights of our visit to Rome - particularly the picnic that we had of bread, cheese, tomatoes and proscuitto that we purchased from a small local market near our pension. (And did I mention the two Caravaggios in the church at the Piazza del Popolo?)

On the Sunday evening I had convinced Julie that we should hear the Benedictine monks chanting vespers in the church adjacent to their monastery on the Aventine Hill overlooking Rome. I had read that this one of those must do experiences and happens each Sunday evening at 7.30pm. After a trek from the Metro at Circus Maximus and briefly losing our way through the winding streets, we found the church and, by Roman standards, a small crowd.

Noticing a queue of people lined up to look through a keyhole in the door of the Monastery, we joined in not knowing what to expect. The stunning view of the dome of St Peter's Basilica in the far distance framed on either side by an avenue of trees growing in the monastery caught us by surprise and brought a smile to our faces.

We then joined a small group of people in the church to await the arrival of the monks. However 7.30 came and went and the monks failed to front. Julie went outside to find out what was happening only to be told that, as this was Easter Sunday, the monks had performed the vespers earlier in the afternoon. It was the one day of the year that they did not have a 7.30 pm service! However, our disappointment was off-set by the unexpected delight of the view through the keyhole.

Six days in Rome is simply not enough. What were our highlights? Our charming pension in Prati, the walk to the Vatican along the pink blossom lined and super trendy Via Cola di Renzo, the ease of getting around and the accessibility of the attractions, the Galleria Borghese and the endless gardens, the keyhole, the mass sung in French by the heavenly choir of angels, the ruins and, how could I not mention - the coffee! My first stop each day was for a cafe doppio. To this list, Julie would also add the gelati!

Yes we did eventually get to St Peter's Basilica - the queue was long but moved quickly. The basilica is huge and sumptuous and decorated to excess. After an hour spent wandering around this incredible space I was all baroqued out! It left us in awe of man's creativity, but this was tempered by an uneasy feeling about the excessive wealth that underpins the whole structure of the Catholic Church. I suppose I can rationalise this by accepting that the church is simply the custodian of this accumulation of treasures which, after all, are accessible to the general public. As long as you can pay the price of the admission ticket!

Our final morning in Rome and a later than expected train to Florence afforded me an opportunity to visit one last gallery - the Pinacoteca Capitolina - and a couple more Caravaggios. By this stage Julie was all Caravaggioed out and opted to wait for me in the Michelangelo designed square outside the gallery.

We left Rome with unfinished business and a feeling that we had only skimmed the surface. At least the coins we threw in the Trevi Fountain offer the promise that we will return some day.