The last half of our time in Imperia was quite a bit warmer and we ventured to the beach for at least a part of each afternoon.
More burying. This time involved packing the sand tight. Mikaya actually took some extracting. Note the lady behind the kids who seemed quite happy to be in our pictures. Another family on the beach. Fun to watch them. I suppose they were also watching us.
On the weekend there were way more teens and 20s kids on the scene. Interesting to get a window into the culture. Definitely more PDA than Canada! Kids were a bit wide eyed.
Beach is heating up! We had a shade umbrella at our place which absolutely helped Kylie stay longer.
This is the piazza one level below our place. A common meeting place and hang out zone.
And of course our deck. Pete Holmes’ Comedy Sex God was just sitting on a shelf in Belveglio waiting for us. Transformative writing for a comedian!
As part of our Italian education Kylie insisted we go to the olive oil museum and it was actually extremely interesting. Liguria is the world epicentre for olive oil and at one point grew, processed and supplied the whole civilized world via trade routes across the Mediterranean. Above are some 900 year old amphora.
An example of an olive crusher machine. They could be driven by a water wheel or a donkey or a person. Amazing to see the ancient gearing.
Old ground working tools.
More bottles. Lots of bottles.
Fancy oil dispensers for royalty at parties.
Ty making friends.
Mikaya happily in olive processing jail.
A cross section of the ancient terracing that is all over this part of Italy. Crazy to think of entire mountainsides being put to work with hand labour.
These walls are everywhere around here. Some 1000 years old. Some still functional today.
900 year old shears that are almost identical in construction to a pair in our garage.
Thanks muse d’olio!
After the Museum we wandered Oneglia again. We didn’t spend much time on this side of town so it was fun to explore.
More churches. Our children are quiet in churches.
We found a fancy cafe and had some fancy baking and …. Cappuccino. Who coulda guessed.
Zeke and I ran home and the rest of the family fit into 1 cab. We tried waiting for the bus but the kids couldn’t stand still long enough. Nice tour of the seaside.
After that it was back to the beach!
So much to explore. I could stay here all summer and not get bored.
Mikaya doing her influencer posing imitation.
And a more classic pose.
Ty and Levi dug a hole to seawater. We had to flag it for safety.
This is still early on…
Lovely spot for a drink.
Italians definitely love the beach! Lots of volleyball and soccer. No frisbees or floaties. Maybe one or two stand up paddle boards. Lots of tanning.
Nobody in the old town has yards but many still care for their spaces and beautify the neighbourhood.
Last night at the taverna. Levi says papa will be proud of his plate. Can’t even tell it was spaghetti pesto. So tasty. It’s absolutely better here.
Mikaya’s burger and fries was actually literally one burger patty and fries.
Bye bye Imperia!! We will be back! Here is the train coming into the station about to whisk us out of Liguria and on to the French alps.
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!
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!