The pope's retreat, with its sweeping gardens and view of Lake Albano, compares rather favorably to most communities -- and has a number of things in common with Florida's many retirement developments.
This year, on an oppressively hot evening near the end of May, I travelled with Benazir Bhutto and her entourage from Islamabad, the capital, to Rawalpindi, fourteen miles away, for a jalsa, or public meeting — a time-honored relic of the Raj, in which rulers are presented to their subjects atop lofty wooden platforms in sweeping British gardens and public parks.
** This year, on an oppressively hot evening near the end of May, I travelled with Benazir Bhutto and her entourage from Islamabad, the capital, to Rawalpindi, fourteen miles away, for a jalsa, or public meeting — a time-honored relic of the Raj, in which rulers are presented to their subjects atop lofty wooden platforms in sweeping British gardens and public parks.
"Out there," he said, his arm sweeping toward the garden, "she is in her glory".
The new proposals provide for able-bodied jobseekers to do regular four-week stints of manual labor, at tasks like removing graffiti, sweeping streets or gardening in public parks, as the price of retaining their state allowances — and, as the government has explained it, to learn basic disciplines like working a 9-to-5 day.
Gardeners are suddenly demanding the plants he brought back years ago: a variegated spirea called Mellow Yellow, a striped sweet flag called Ogon, a loropetalum called Plum Delight, a 10-foot angelica called Gigas, not to mention the hydrangeas, gingers and hostas that are sweeping through shade gardens.
Adare Manor is, indeed, a singularly special place consisting of 840 acres of sweeping parklands, cultivated gardens, mature trees and the river Maigue, one of Ireland's finest trout rivers.
This green-fingered crime is a symptom of the garden revolution that is sweeping Britain - we spend £4bn on flowers, plants, garden tools and garden accessories every year, and despite the credit crunch, retailers do not believe this area of spending will decline, as people will take fewer holidays and spend more time at home in their gardens.
At the top, cross the footbridge to the immense 17th-century Fort Saint-Jean (8), now surrounded by gardens with sweeping vistas of the port.
While the Sanderses had some pangs of regret about leaving their previous home, with its dramatic, Hollywood-style sweeping staircases, gated formal gardens and long driveway, they harbor no regrets about the move.
