Sounds amazing! We were only there briefly and were going to have more time to explore on this trip.....Really hoping to get back there - or anywhere! - again someday.

I'm sure you will, some day, even if this year clearly isn't the year for traveling ... pretty much anywhere. :( Germans theoretically are allowed travel again to a number of countries, including Italy, but I'm staying at home until a Corona vaccine is on the market -- and has been used to immunize enough people for the virus to well and truly be pushed back. I'm pretty sure we'll be looking at a second wave later this summer, or in the fall at the very latest ... and I am so NOT looking forward to that.

It's depressing. I have two kids in college this fall & one in high school, so I desperately want things to be normal for them while knowing that there's no way they will be.

My heart goes out to all the parents affected by this situation -- you guys, along with healthcare workers and those who keep our daily lives going (grocery store / retail employees, delivery services, street cleaners, etc), to me, truly are the heroes of this whole situation.

This will certainly make me more careful about how I book travel in the future. I've always been of the "there's nothing that would make me not go" outlook & used discount websites and passed on insurance. It's coming back to bite me now.

Re: the credit card companies: What a year for Wirecard to finally face up to the accounting fraud that went undetected even by its own auditors for years. If the insolvency does spread to Wirecard Bank after all -- which it very well might -- ALL major credit card companies will be affected, too. It's a high-wire balancing act for them whether to keep their ties to Wirecard Bank intact (so as not to precipitate an insolvency by the mere decision to cut themselves loose), or pull out to avoid incurring losses monumental enough to endanger their own businesses in case Wirecard Bank collapses along with its parent company.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-06-25/visa-mastercard-weigh-cutting-ties-with-wirecard-after-scandal

Oh wow! I had no idea.

The Financial Times originally broke the story two years ago, but Wirecard kept up a strong denial that even convinced the German regulatory authorities ... until last month. Though with Corona dominating the news to such an extent (particularly in the U.S.), plus the upcoming U.S. elections, I have no doubt that many people missed it -- at least outside of Germany. (It's definitely headline news here.)

I have definitely not heard a word of this until now.

From their perspective, the timing is certainly fortuitous. Nothing to hide a big mess like an even bigger one to take its place in the spotlight ...