Vatican City, Jul 17, 2005 / 22:00 pm
Yesterday, during an informal meeting, Holy See Press Office Director Joaquin Navarro-Valls gave journalists an inside look at the day-to-day life of the Pope on his vacation in Italy’s northern alps this week.
Navarrro-Valls described the vacation, being spent in Les Combes, in the Valle d’Aosta region of Italy, which stretches from July 11th to the 28th, as "a real holiday, but a working holiday."
He said that after celebrating Mass and eating breakfast each day, the Holy Father reads the breviary before retiring to his room to write. "I would not say he is writing an Encyclical," Navarro-Valls said, which could suggest that the Holy Father is working on a new book.
In the afternoon, he added, the Pope usually takes a walk around the local area. On Saturday, returning home, he paused to greet some of the locals.