Prepaid SIM for Italy...

[SpaceBass]

This is a great thread...really learning a lot from lurking here!

Few questions:
If I get a SIM from ebay or Telstial, can I do a top-up before I get to Italy?
It looks like the carrier sites want you to create an account which requires receiving an SMS message - will I be able to get that in the US prior to being in Italy?

Personally, I'm quite comfortable with buying the SIM and setting everything up in the Airport or someplace once I get there (despite not speaking Italian) ... but this is for my in laws who are willing to be totally ripped off and pay what ever it takes to have it fully charged and setup prior to leaving US soil....so I volunteered to help... I can just order a sim and 100 mins of credit from Telstial but thats over $200.00 and it just feels so wrong. I'd rather find a SIM, even if its from Telstial, and top it up from here.

Thanks!
-N