Café Santa Cruz

This is the most famous coffeehouse in Coimbra, perhaps in the whole of northern Portugal. In a former auxiliary chapel of the cathedral, it has a high ceiling supported by flamboyant stone ribbing and vaulting of fitted stone. The paneled waiters' station boasts a marble top handsome enough to serve as an altar. A favorite gathering place by day or night, it has a casual mood; cigarette butts are tossed on the floor. Scores of students and professors come here to read the newspaper. There's no bar to stand at, so everyone takes a seat on an intricately tooled leather chair at one of the marble-topped hexagonal tables. If you order cognac, the shot will overflow the glass.

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