Trullo in Puglia and a broken camera

We spent the last week in Puglia which was nice for my stomach and very bad for my waistline. My mother-in-law’s mantra must be: Kill them with kindness and fresh pasta.

Though I am a bit lighter, gadget-wise. My poor little digital camera, something that has been my companion for a good three and a half years, which has recorded every moment from my MBA graduation to my farewell party to my first three and a half years here, is dying. It took the first picture of Sante in my apartment in Rome, starred as one of my wedding photographers, and has taken thousands of pictures.

For some reason, perhaps related to the level of beating that the camera takes from being sloppily chucked around in my purse or from someone’s rear end ending up on top of it, my little friend began to show its wrinkles during this holiday period.

Wrinkles and lines, in fact, in the form of actual lines on my photographs. My perfectly timed and lighted photographs. Okay, that was an exaggeration as most of my photographs are nowhere near perfect, but it definitely didn’t help having digital lines mar them.

So a picture of a beautiful Trullo in Puglia that should have looked more like this:

ended up more like this:

Woe is me.

About 1 in 20 comes out decent, with no rhyme or reason. I tried to console myself by borrowing my sister-in-law’s camera but it didn’t help. It’s like sleeping in the guest room of your own house. I will try to revive Sante’s 2.0 megapixel camera (mine was only 3.2, tho) but I have a feeling my future trip to America is going to get pushed up by quite a bit so I can make an important purchase.

Luckily I have some pics and posts saved up but I had some really cool things planned! Looks like I will have to do some comparison shopping ASAP or move up my trip to the States.

Anyone have a recommendation for me? I’m looking for 8+ megapixels and SLR. I’m considering another Canon since it would be my 3rd generation (re-use old lens?) and the Rebel XTi looks pretty cool but I’m open to suggestions.