SALAMANCA is one of the most beautiful cities in Spain and its image has indeed been boosted with the release of the Hollywood thriller Vantage Point in 2008 which is set in Salamanca. The movie, even though shot entirely in Mexico, features the city in precision down to the logo and the color and even the model of the Guardia Civil cars. Salamanca is one of the favorite destinations for British and Scandinavian tourists this Christmas season.

Aside from enjoying the beauty of Christmas here in Salamanca, have fun in other endeavors as well. For example, you can enjoy having to learn Spanish right here in Salamanca. There are numerous schools right here splashed in the middle of Salamanca which offers two-week short courses in Spanish. Here, you can learn Spanish the fun way. The lessons are not induced in boring lectures but all in a participative mood.

The tutors make use of slides where you can recite out loud the few vocabularies that you have learned so far during the course. Make no mistake, the Spanish crash course here is already included in bundled tour packages during Christmas so you will be toured with the many attractions in Salamanca as well.

And in Salamanca, even though it is not located in the Mediterranean, there are numerous swimming pools here to have a perfect romantic vacation. Since Salamanca is located in the middle of a hot city with so many Moorish-inspired buildings, it is not that cold here during winter so this vacation can really be a pleasurable one.

You can have a romantic evening with your partner or if you have a kid in tow, you can put your kid at one of the nurseries in the hotel that you are staying. Salamanca offers a varied selection of five-star hotels and inns. These inns have newly-installed nurseries, an addition that has been the trend recently following the Madeleine McCann kidnapping in nearby Portugal. And get this folks – these nurseries are all manned by professional child psychologists so your stay will definitely be a pleasant one and you need not worry about your child’s welfare because these nurseries are operating 24 hours.

With this freedom in mind- do something you’ve never tried before! Salamanca has a very prestigious casino to be enjoyed and what better excuse to experience the glamour of the poker tables than a holiday? You needn’t spend too much once inside but you should plan in advance how much you are prepared to lose - you don’t want to be struggling come the end of your holiday! Of course, your luck could go the other way and you may find yourself with enough to finance another city break! Give yourself the best chances by practising poker online before you come away - you’ll make the most of your Ocean’s 11 experience and feel a lot more confident on entering Salamanca’s extravagant secret!

Binge on some of the best Salamanca food at the topmost restaurants here. After all, these restaurants are regularly checked by the Salamanca tourism ministry because they don’t want to feel embarrassed with poor service. Tourism is one of the lifeblood of their economy here. There are lots of yummy treats available in the Salamanca way like several variants of the famed Spanish staple tortilla, chorizo and the fish. How can anybody forget how tasty the fish here is? Fish here is sautéed, fried and grilled the Mediterranean way – in olive oil.

In fact, you can even order fish right from the aquarium before they are cooked in various forms - monkfish, salmon and king prawns bundled in one salad; sautéed langoustinos in garlic sauce (hmm…yummy), king prawns marinated in chili (get that?); seafood salad with marinated octopus, squid and mussels; oysters dipped in lime; lobsters dipped in tartar sauce; and everything else in between.