bad news bears

I'm currently in Prague visiting Marya, one of my best friends from high school. Prague is beautiful; stunning architecture and a weird fusion between eastern and western European culture.
Yesterday, we were wandering around the most crowded Christmas market I've been to (Budapest, Hungary, and Krakow, Poland crowds haven't even measured up, Cologne, Germany was close though). I had just taken my camera out to take a picture of the big, beautiful Christmas tree that lights up Old Town square, and I temporarily put my camera in my coat pocket. (If I'm continuously taking pictures, I'll keep my camera either clipped to my bag or in my pocket. If not, its tucked away in my purse.) Two minutes later, I went to grab my camera again to take another Christmas market picture, and it was gone. Some enterprising Czechs really took advantage of the teeming Christmas market tourists.
With that camera, I lost every single picture I've taken since I left Spain. I left my laptop there, so I've had no way to upload my pictures. Losing the camera is one thing, but its replaceable. But losing those pictures are not. The ones I'm most upset about are Assisi, Italy, and the Auschwitz and Birkeneau, and Budapest. I was super excited about showing you all where I had been, and teaching you what I had learned through this blog. For me when I'm reading a blog post, the pictures make the post.
I had a lot of fun with that camera. I've learned how to take real pictures of art, architecture, food, and people over the past few weeks, simply because I've never been exposed to so many new things and places in such a short amount of time. The good news is that I won't lose what I've learned.
My plans for a Europe scrapbook, a Christmas card with a collage of all the most Christmasy scenes in every country I've been to, and blog posts about each country are now going to be foregone, however. I'm a little bit heart broken, especially because without the money to spend on souveniers, those pictures were going to be what I brought back.
You live and you learn, I guess, and I should've known better to hide that camera away. I've been lucky so far that this is the worst thing that has happened to me. And I'm hoping and praying that whoever took that camera is using it to provide his or her family with the best Christmas they've ever had.
I hope everyone back home is having an amazing Christmas season, and I literally CANNOT wait for two weeks from today, when I'll be sleeping in my OWN BED for the first time in over 5 months. I miss you all so much!
Next stop on this adventure? Paris!