FLOWing through Italy

  FLOW (http://www.flowreizen.nl/)

Our goal is to develop active vacations for people with a light intellectual limitation and to carry them out into unforgettable, unique trips. 

Through my cousins wife I heard about this organization and so I did an interview, went through some educational weekends and got two trips assigned. One to the mountains of South Germany to go trekking (but I broke my elbow and couldn't go) and one to the North of Italy to relax in a five star hotel.

Three escort guides (Annelies, Niels and I) and fifteen participants:

Always being annoyed with regular tourists taking tours to things they easily could do themselfs, it seemed really satisfying to me to guide tours with people who can not do those things without some help.

The participants we independant, but needed some help with their medicine, moneycare, shopping, language, communication and organization. All in slight forms and everybody a little different. Most of them were autistic and needed some sort of structure.

So we took them to all places around Arco where it sounded like fun.

On top of the mountain castle in the middle of town.

 

Or to the midgetgolf.

Or we took a boatride on this big Gardalake to the peninsula of Sirmione. The captain was very friendly and we all took turns on the wheel.

At the top in the castle of Sirmione

The pool at the hotel was a welcoming refreshing playground some free afternoon.

Annelies, Niels and me.

 

Breakfast and a three-cours dinner were included with the hotel, so that was really relaxed (with the camping trips you have to shop and cook for the whole group yourself every day).

And with our two birthday boys the restaurant made two big cakes with to-be-blown-out candels.

 

One day we split the group up in two, an active part went rafting..... 

......the others came with me to the top of a very high mountain with a cool cablecar.
Every day we would make a lunch and eat it at the most beautiful spots.

 

Another day we went to Verona. A beautiful city with lots of icecream, a big Roman arena and the real balcony of Romeo and Juliet.



The other birthday boy got chuked in the pool before he could really wake up.

Another day we parted the group into a Zoo or Funpark preference.

Some got eaten by the Hippopotamus......

 .....while the rest came with me to yell harder then the rest in the Python.

Having fun after dinner:

The patio where we would go for a beer in the evenings and evaluate and cheer to another warm, succeeded day.

And of course we went a whole day to Venice, the city on islands, where you can wonder for hours through small streets and munch on great pizza's with good expresso's.

Those who wanted took a ride in a real gondola.

We really needed a beer after this day of counting hunderds of times till fifteen (pfew, we did get everybody back into the vans).

 

After twelve days it was time to take our fifteen tired new friends back home.

A great concept, I'm proud to have a little part in this good organized company. Hopefully I can keep finding the time to do a few trips a year and take some enthousiastic people on a journey they otherwise could only dream of.