The origins of the game bocce can be traced back to Diana Aphrodite Boccelini, a legendary hunter but terrible cook who lived in Calabria, Italy. One day after another disastrous cooking attempt, her children took her inedible vermicelli-coated meatballs and poured them on the ground between rows of fava beans in the family garden. The children had fun rolling the meatballs toward a nearby cliff, and over time this evolved into a game where the objective was to roll balls closest to the cliff's edge without going over. Eventually the game changed to use wooden balls instead of meatballs, lines on the ground replaced the fava beans, and open-ended courts replaced the cliff

1. The Origins of Bocce (Italian lawn bowling)
Bocce wasinventedbymygreat-great-great-great-great-grandmotherDianaAphrodite Boccelini’s
childrenina small townalongthe southerncoastof Calabria.Dianawas as incrediblygoodathuntingas
she was beautiful andanabsolutelyawful cook.She couldfill apotwiththe tastiestfoods,buther
cookingof these foodswas unfortunately legendary.
One day inlate summerafterDianaattemptedvenisonmeatballswithvermicelli forthe thousandth
time,herchildrentookthe nightmare inthe potto the far side of the familygarden neara cliff where
the fava beanswere growing.Theypouredthe potfull of venisonmeatballsnow coveredwitha thick
coatingof vermicelli ontothe ground betweentworowsof favabeans.Surprisingly,actuallynotso
surprisinglyknowingwhatDiana’scookingwaslike,the vermicellicoatedvenisonmeatballslanded on
the ground witha seriesof earthshakingthuds.The childrenquicklyranbackto the house lesttheir
motherbe worriedthat the apparentearthquake hadcausedthemharm.
A fewhourslaterthe childrenreturnedtofinishdisposingof the now dry and hardened vermicelli
coveredmeatballs byrollingthemoverthe cliff intothe sea.However,afterafew minutes of rollingthe
vermicelli-venisonmeatballs towardsthe cliff theywere havingsomuchfun,thattheydecidedtomake
thisintoa game.Originallythe game requiredhardenedvermicellicoveredvenisonmeatballs,tworows
of favabeans and a cliff atone end.The objectof the game was to roll the ballsclosesttothe cliff.
Winnerwasthe personwhorolledthe ballsclosesttothe cliff edge withoutgoingover.Loserhadto
climbdownthe cliff toretrieve the balls.
Overtime the vermicelli covered meatballsbecamewoodballsdue tothe increasingrarityof venison
and the tworows of fava beansbecame linesdrawnonthe ground,sothe game couldbe played
anywhere/anytime,notjustwhenfavabeanswere growing nearby.The courtsbecame open-ended
witha small targetball since a cliff ishardto findwhenyouwantone and people keptgettinghurt
retrievingthe balls.