When we lived in Austin, we actually had a bocce set. As I recall, non of us knew the rules, so we made them up depending on who and how many were playing. And that held true until yesterday, when we learned to play bocce at the hand of a champion!
Many years ago, we are told, Cortona had a bocce court in/near Porta Colonna, before it became a parking lot. Today, however, bocce is played just outside of Cortona in Tavernelle.
There we found BOCCIODROMO Communal, or the community bocce dome. Not just any dome mind you, but a semi professional one that held the special olympics some years ago. And according to the Special Olympics website: Next to soccer and golf, bocce is the third most participated sport in the world.
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Inside are three bocce lanes made of cement and covered with a special resin. Championship banners and trophies of all sizes adorn the walls.
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We were graciously met by Lidio, a local champion, who proceeded to demonstrate several methods of tossing the bocce.
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We divided ourselves into two teams and learned basic rules as we played. First team to 12 points would win.
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I must admit, I was hooked. Although the basic principle of the sport is to roll a bocce ball closest to the pallina or target ball, there are so many styles and strategies as well as a great deal of competitiveness at play.
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And the more we learned, the more competitive we became.
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Lidio even helped with measuring who was closest to the pallina.
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Unfortunately, I was not on the winning team, but it was such great fun for all that these two characters decided to play one more time while Lidio gave some of us more advanced instruction.
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Many thanks to Lidio for his time, instruction, and most of all, patience,
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from his new BOCCE fans!
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Ciao,
Judy
Blogging In Italy 
A little constructive criticism. I noticed a basic flaw in all of the pictures. In order to be properly “balanced” when throwing a bocce ball, it’s imperative that you have a beer bottle in your other hand.
Vince
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Seems to me like you’ve played often and know the rules well!
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What fun!!
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It really was!
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Wow! Looks like a great way to keep in shape. Once we visited our daughter in Marin (across the Golden Gate Bridge) and she gave us a bedroom next to the Bocce court. A lot of older men were happy playing well into the night. Not surprising given how Italian the SF/Napa area is. I’ll bet you and Len have relatives there!
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So true, the Italians have brought bocce everywhere they have moved. And you are probably right, but I don’t know them yet.
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As usual, very interesting
1st I have been misspelling the word BOCCE
2nd Did not realize how popular it was
Thank you for the information
Enjoy
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And now that you know hot to spell it, you can pronounce it correctly by saying the final E as a soft long A!
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What fun!
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Would have loved to join you in that fun l
I think our team would have been the winning team.
Love, Magda
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We would have loved to have you! And yes, I think we would have won with you on our team!!! xoxo
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