On Last Day, Berlusconi Packs a Few Precious Items

Today is Silvio Berlusconi's last day as the prime minister of Italy, and he did what any of us would do in our final moments on the job: packed up his stuff. But Berlusconi isn't exactly walking out with a cardboard box filled with picture frames and a stapler. AFP picks up a report by La Repubblica on what the billionaire decided to walk away with: a scimitar (a saber with a curved blade) from Kazakhstan and a Ming dynasty vase, two of the hundreds of gifts he was given while in office.

The AFP relays Berlusconi's reaction when he was given the vase: He pretended to drop it in front of the Chinese diplomats, then said, "I like the flowers on it, but next time bring one with pictures of the kamasutra." And, funny enough, he actually is packing up some framed photos: three shots—of himself with George W. Bush, Pope Benedict XVI, and John Paul II. As for getting his computer ready for the next guy? Done. All files were deleted on Saturday night by Cabinet staff in "a very rapid blitz," notes La Repubblica. (More Silvio Berlusconi stories.)