Duty-free sale at the Vatican

VATICAN CITY (AP):

Anyone left on your Christmas list just aching for a 65-inch Samsung 3D flat-screen television? Just your luck.

The Vatican's duty-free department store has one on sale for €2,899 ($3,840), a nifty savings over the €3,799 ($5,032) it costs at Italy's main electronics chain Euronics.

Or how about some new luggage for the holidays? The Vatican shop stocks a variety of Samsonite Cordoba Duo carry-ons for €123, a nice markdown from the €135 on the Samsonite website. But if a last-minute shopping splurge is in order, the Vatican can also oblige: There's a leather-bound travelling trunk from Florence's "The Bridge" leatherworks, with its five drawers, plaid interior, six wooden hangars and shiny brass buckles.

At €5,900, it comes with a matching leather golf club bag, just what every monsignor needs under his Christmas tree.

There's a little-known open secret in the Vatican gardens, a few paces behind St Peter's Basilica and tucked inside the Vatican's old train station: a sprawling, three-story tax-free department store that rivals any airport duty free or military PX, stocking everything from Church's custom-grade shoes (€483 a pair) to Baume et Mercier watches (ladies €1,585, men's Capeland €5,000).