On the road again

George who knew so much      After walking the city neighborhoods we ventured out to the island city of Tigre by train, accompanied by George an American/ Argentine, who found us in the Recoleta cemetery and has been very helpful in many a way since with info and ideas. He booked us a tango show, but about that adventure a bit later. train interior on a quiet day      We boarded a train that was looking dilapidated and in need of paint, but we found it pleasantly air conditioned. The one hour train trip would have cost 6 pesos per return ticket, but as George mentioned because he uses a preloaded government issued card the cost was now only 3.6 pesos. (or 21 US cents). He intimated that the government pushed this discount system, because in that way the government could trace movements of the people (the big brother watching you scenario).      In Buenos Aires pedestrians are the least protected class of all the ...

     Walking through Recoleta Cemetery I realize, that on this square lot of 550,000 sq ft with more than 4,800 vaults, which are privately owned by the privileged families of Buenos Aires, (although they still need to pay their annual fee based on lot size), that unless the government gave you and your descendants the family grave, wealth is a prerequisite.      The ones that are in default of their annual fee find the remains of the family removed and re-interned in a nameless grave. So better be sure to avoid such a shame and try to sell your vault, some of which can hold hundreds of full sized caskets, for the "modest" amount of several hundred thousand dollars to over 10 million dollars. And we talk US dollars.      We found that if you want to buy a car or real estate, the full purchase price must be presented at closing in US dollars. There are no mortgages in Argentina. Banks have stopped changing pesos into d...