Bocce!

 Few things say "old goombas" better than Bocce, commonly referred to as Bocce Ball (pronounced botch-ee). That's not to say, of course, that Bocce is a game reserved only for Italian geezers. It's not. But we often perceive it that way, leastwise in America.

Even Popes play Bocce!

If you happen to see some old guys playing Bocce, I doubt you'll see too many of them who aren't Italian. That's because Bocce is a true Italian game. Bocce means "bowl."  Not a bowl like the one you serve your spaghetti-and-meatballs or other tradtional pasta dish in, but bowl as in bowling.

The history of Bocce goes all the way back to the Roman Empire. Some historians say it goes further back than that: to the ancient Greeks, and that it was those Greeks who taught the Romans to play Bocce. That makes perfect sense, of course. Italian culture owes much to the ancient Greeks and Bocce is likely another example of that.

My kind of Bocce players!

In early times, the Romans used coconuts from Africa as their Bocce balls. Later, they made the balls from olive wood. Due to the reach of the Roman Empire, Bocce (or games like it) spread throughout Europe, even as far away as the barbarians of Britain.  Later, after the Roman Empire had gone the way of all empires, Queen Elizabeth 1 and Sir Francis Drake both became avid Bocce fans and players.

(Side Note: Had the Brits also embraced Italian food, eating in England would be far superior. I know about English food because I once lived in the UK for three years. To say that most British food is bland and basically sucks is, I believe, a fairly accurate statement. Leastwise, in my opinion. That opinion is based on first-hand. long-term, eating experiences on that island. But that's another story, not one for this blog, and has nothing to do with Bocce.)

Okay. Here's how Bocce is played... Waitaminute! I don't need to write how Bocce is played. I can simply post a video that explains it. Gotta love the internet! Ciao!