For the most Christian of all holidays, the most inviting travel destination is Rome and the Vatican. But there’s more to experience in the Italian capital at the end of 2009 and beginning of 2010 than the Christmas or New Year’s mass in St. Peter’s Basilica. Christians, non-Christians, agnostics, and atheists will all find something exciting and new to explore in Rome, after the recent opening of the new MAXXI museum. Officially called the National Museum of 21st Century Arts, the Zaha Hadid-designed building is a concrete-and-glass structure next to industrial buildings, and holds contemporary art and architecture exhibitions. Hadid has been quoted as saying that this is actually not a museum but rather a center of art and culture made up of 27,000 square meters of galleries, but whatever it is, it’s a much-welcomed opening in Rome. You may catch a light installation by Tobias Rehberger there until January 10th.
Another contemporary building to check out is Renzo Piano’s Auditorium Parco della Musica which will present holiday-themed concerts, and after that you can always hop on to its hip ReD restaurant which is more of a stylish lounge bar for drinks.
At the end of the day UCityGuides recommend you retreat to Casa Montani this holiday season, a guesthouse in the heart of the city which is a cozier and more reasonably-priced alternative to Rome’s usually-high-priced hotels at this time of the year. It has a good mix of classic and contemporary style and has received very positive reviews from previous guests: Casa Montani

-See the complete Rome city guide.
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