Vatican launches rail service to Castel Gandolfo
If you've ever wanted to see the world from the viewpoint of a pope, now you can.
The Vatican has turned part of the lavish papal summer estate south of Rome - which the frugal Pope Francis has never used - into a museum and linked it to Rome via a train. Both were inaugurated on Friday and one of the main draws is a chance to stand at the window overlooking a large courtyard from where popes before Francis blessed crowds every Sunday for weeks during their summer breaks.
Pope Francis, a workaholic who has also renounced the papal apartments in the Vatican in favor of a suite in a guesthouse, does not take vacations. His shunning of Castel Gandolfo led to a drastic decline in tourism that hurt the local economy. Opening the palace doors "was the pope's initiative," said Antonio Paolucci, head of the Vatican Museums. "Francis said 'I won't go to Castel Gandolfo because I have too much to do at the Vatican' and so he told me to open the palace and the grounds to the public."
A special train will run on Saturdays from the Vatican to Castel Gandolfo, about 35 km (20 miles) south of Rome. Tourists can see the Vatican Museums and gardens and then take the train to the estate and nearby museum. For the inaugural run on Friday, Italy's state railways used a 100-year-old, coal-powered locomotive that belted out dark clouds of smoke as it left the Vatican pulling antique carriages, including one used by Pope John XXIII in 1962.
At 136 acres (55 hectares), the Castel Gandolfo estate is about one fourth larger than Vatican City itself, with woodlands and a working farm with about 100 cows producing 1,300 liters of milk a day.
At: http://buenosairesherald.com/article/198592/vatican-launches-rail-service-to-popes-summer-palace-
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