Levi had a great time celebrating his 12th birthday in Imperia. The true date is not until we are in Dolceacqua but as it is quite a small town Levi decided he would rather plan his big day in a beach town with a clown mansion and more cafes than fire hydrants.
Seeing Zeke’s unending birthday conveyor belt of treats Levi wanted to start off in a similar fashion.
Leaving the other kids at home Levi Kylie and I wound our way through the maze to look for a sugar based breakfast.
First we stopped at our favourite bakery where we found a few pastries to share.
Then we found a cafe that served Cafe Di Crème, a frozen coffee mousse.
After adequate caffeination we stopped at the local barber to get Levi’s head sharpened.
Sharp indeed!
We took the opportunity to have Ty sheared as well and then it was off to the beach!
A gorgeous day and not too busy.
Here the boys took part in the age old pastime of burying their sister.
After the beach our blood sugar was clearly crashing so it was time for gelato! Levi chose hazelnut and Oreo. Mikaya had mint and lemon… to each their own but I’m with Levi on that one.
After gelato and then a quick lunch at home we made our way to Villa Grock, an interesting and slightly bizarre mansion and garden built by the most famous clown in Europe in the early 1900s. Originally from Switzerland, he visited Imperia and became so enamoured of it that he built this huge art deco residence with elaborate decks and gardens. Crazy how much $$ a clown could generate in 1910.
Gorgeous view from the top deck. Especially this couple we met up there.
The mansion has been converted into a museum of Grock’s art and illusions. Many rooms with many pastimes including fun house mirrors, random Swiss balls, clown art and an exposition of Grocks work to thunderous laughter responding to what was very mild mugging and humour by today’s standards. He did have very wide eyes and a bit of a manic smile.
Quite random and also quite entertaining.
We spent as much time in the garden as we did the mansion.
Felt very royal while eating snacks in the garden.
Levi was quite pleased with his life choices.
The garden came complete with captive wall mimes. They seemed to want cookies.
After feeding the mimes we walked down the hill to Oneglia, another town centre that was folded into modern Imperia. This one had much more piedmontese architecture with similar outdoor arcades to Genova and so many cafes. Keep in mind the total population of this town is 40k. How does it support so many cafes?? They are always busy! No one in Italy must ever make their own coffee.
I didn’t get any pics of Levi but here is me with my style maven trying on some linen. Looked good but was incredibly stiff. I need freedom of movement.
After returning home with Levi’s new shirt (and jeans for Ty) Levi got to pick the dinner venue.
Thankfully he chose the delicious taverna on via Zara that allowed the kids to roam the terraces of Parasio while waiting for their food.
The owner and staff were extremely friendly and sang Levi happy birthday in Italian. At the owner’s suggestion we started with a healing plate of calamari. A first for the kids and the best I’ve ever had. Boston pizza will never measure up.
We walk by this spot a lot and the next morning the waiters all wished him happy birthday again. A really fun spot.
Kids roaming the terraces after dinner
And back on our deck, a local club threw a party in the harbour for Levi, blasting English language pop songs until after midnight. Levi couldn’t attend in person but he appreciated the celebration nonetheless.
Happy birthday Levi!! He’s growing up so fast!
