...my SIM card gets activated after exactly 23 hours and 25 minutes of purchase. Wow. Simply:Wow....we try the local delicacy - pastry called sfogliatella and it is quite yummy...we visit a church/museum containing a Caravaggio painting and dad gets his first senior discount!...we wander around the waterside and given its our first sunny day, we enjoy the views immensely including the beautiful Ovo castle...we try our first pizza in the harbor and it is delicious...

...we visit the beautiful Montecassino monastery and the Polish war heroes cemetery next to it: a sentimental journey...we buy an Italian SIM card and fall victim to the seller's terrible pronunciation: I end up paying €30 instead of €13, plus the SIM card can take up to 24h to activate; as of this writing (3h) it's still dead...we go to a supermarket and marvel at the quantity and choice of chocolate Easter eggs, which come in all shapes and ...

...we leave for the airport with Krzysiek, manage to miss one exit but still make it on time...I am shocked to find airport ID checks have been brought back for intraSchengen flights as I get asked for ID both in Paris and in Rome...I am not surprised to find a Roman airport janitor making his way through Fiumicino on a Segway looks no less stylish and suave than an Armani model on a catwalk...to my shock, awe and disbelief my coffee starved body is denied its mo...

...a bomb blows up under my window at work, airport gets shut down and I, battling shock, anger and disbelief, I try to figure out how to salvage our suddenly crumbling Italian vacation...I figure out another flight - from Paris - and even a way to get there - by bus - and where to sleep - at my cousin's...they let us out of the building and I rush to the bus station half on foot half by city bike, because the whole city is gridlocked and public transportatio...

1. I while away 6 long hours waiting for the flight to Amsterdam and buying expensive sandwiches, managing not to sleep.2. I realize immediately I'm in Europe after ordering a medium latte in Starbucks and getting something around two thirds smaller than the American equivalent.3. I arrive in the Dutch capital, pick up my car and suddenly enjoy driving my own four wheels again! Good to have it back!4. I arrive on fumes of energy to Brussels, downing four coff...