Leo will disappear further this weekend when he begins a six-week vacation in his first break since his historic election May 8. Leo is resuming the papal tradition of escaping the Roman heat for the relatively cooler climes of Castel Gandolfo, the papal summer retreat on Lake Alban, south of Rome.

For 400 years, most popes escaped the Roman summer in the hilltop town of Castel Gandolfo, Italy. Then Francis stopped going, leaving the town a bit bereft.