In which I develop a taste for coffee and have an Alice in Wonderland moment

Before coming to Spain, I would occasionally partake of a fancy Starbucks coffee that doesn't even taste like coffee anymore. That was how I liked it. I was happy that way. Since coming to Spain, I've begun to experience a change. After my first class with the native students in the University, after focusing so hard on understanding the rapid fire of Spanish from native speakers for an hour and a half, in an impulsive moment I walked up to the first cafe I could find and ordered cafe con leche. Thus has begun my love affair with coffee... kind of.

 

The truth is that I am more in love with exploring cafes and talking with friends at a nice little table than I am with the coffee, but either way I have ordered cafe con leche maybe 5 times in the last week. I started using the whole packet of sugar. In my pride, I have reduced it to half a packet. By the time I have returned to the US, I might even have a coffee addiction. But the cafes are so cute! Above is a cafe that sits right on the river, overlooking the water and the Roman Bridge. The picture below shows what the tables at another cafe, OMundo, look like. If you write something, or draw a cartoon on a napkin, they will stick it in the table. It leaves you with a wonderful sense of community as you sip your coffee.

 

 Speaking of the Roman Bridge, which I like to consider MY roman bridge, here it is. Absolutely beautiful. It is located near the Arch de Triumph in Córdoba and has a monument of San Rafael on the bridge where you can find locals lighting candles for safety and protection of family. It is always busy, always filled with people, and in some ways feels like the heart of Córdoba to me.

 In other news my school is awesome. In Art History the other day, when learning about Baroque Architecture, I learned that the building where we have class used to be a hospital. The room pictured below is where they used to store the medicine.

 As if that wasn't enough, the Professor got a key to a secret little door that was small enough that I felt I needed to eat some magic food like Alice in Wonderland to pass through. She led us into... another chapel. It's beauty is similar to so many buildings here in Spain. It comes from a mixture of cultures and architecture.

 The woman painted on the right is Saint Victoria, a martyr of Córdoba who was killed during Roman rule. She was killed with arrows, and her brother was decapitated. Seems every historic city in Spain has to have its Roman martyr.