Castel Gandolfo

So where does a pope retire to? Why, to his summer residence at Castel Gandolfo, of course. It's nothing special from the front,

but it does had a nice location, two observatories,

and an amazing garden with a view toward Rome eight miles away.

Those Italians and their geometric gardens. Perhaps they like well-ordered gardens because everything else about Italian life is so messy.

I have to say the furniture does nothing for me. But those marble floors!

And should his ex-holiness get tired of the rather drab decor in his palace, he can step next door, where the attached church has a dome by Bernini. I am reminded of Leo X, who is said to have remarked, "Let us enjoy the papacy, since God has seen fit to give it to us."