VATICAN CITY (AP) — Benedict XVI, the 92-year-old former pontiff, has made an unscheduled day trip to the Alban hills near Rome.

The Vatican on Friday said Emeritus Pope Benedict, who relinquished the papacy due to physical frailty, traveled a day earlier to Castel Gandolfo, which is home to the Vatican summer retreat.

He visited the gardens where he used to stroll when vacationing there as pope.

Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said Benedict also visited a religious sanctuary in the town of Rocca di Papa, then dined with the bishop of Frascati, another hill town famed for its wines, before returning to the Vatican monastery where he lives a quiet life of prayer and meditation.

When he retired in 2013, Benedict first resided at Castel Gandolfo.