My 'Brickyard' Away From Home

As many of you know, for many years my daily haunt in San Diego was the outdoor patio at The Brickyard, a coffee shop near my condo. Well, I found my Brickyard here in the hills of Tuscany. It's called the Central Cafe and is located in the very small town of Quiesa, which is about 10 miles west of Lucca. A bunch of pensioners play cards on the patio all day long (from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.). There were five card games going on simultaneously when I was there, three on the patio and two inside the cafe. I think the card playing is just a premise, though. Apparently, the real business of the day is to smoke, argue, and bust each other's balls. When they found out I was American, several of them started humming the tune "I'm A Yankee Doodle Dandy." It was freakin' hilarious.