Day 352, 21 June 2013, Buenos Aires, Recoleta Market & Cemetery (... yes - these are on the MUST DO lists for BA!) We retraced our steps from our night time tour of Recoleta and took our time browsing shop windows. The Recoleta market took us both by surprise. We thought it would have the usual tourist tat (same same, but same), but almost every stall brought a new idea, a new style, a craft form we'd never seen. We discovered that Alpaca in Peru is a cute furry beastie that makes wonderful sweaters and scarves. In Argentina however it is a metal. Officially "not-silver" it's basically like granny's cutlery - electro plated nickel. Or sometimes just stainless steel. But most definitely not Plata (or silver). We were delighted with this little difference because the Alpaca bits and bobs were very reasonably priced. (Where is that sherpa and shipping container when we need it!) We walked and walked and walked. And then had to walk back the whole way because it actually didn't go in a circle. We even had a free lunch - soup from a Knorr soup truck. Perfect. After hours strolling the market and enjoying the sun we made it back to the Recoleta Cemetery. Final resting place of Eva Peron - the most famous and most loved woman in Argentina, it was busy. So busy that dozens of locals streamed through the main entrance in front of us and we were bailed up by a "helpful" type who did us a hand drawn map to take us to Evita's tomb. Then of course asked for a "donation". As if. We strolled through the wealthiest real estate in Buenos Aires amazed. Back in the day, before the Perons' played Robin Hood, there were very many wealthy people in BA who sought to out-do each other in death as well as in life. The thump from the emerging music festival next door was incongruous amongst the stone tombs, but it's not as though these neighbours were about to complain. As it turned out Eva's tomb was incredibly easy to find. Like following ants at a picnic we simply headed in the direction of everyone else, then took off for more peaceful areas. We kid you not about the Robin Hood thing. There are still wealthy people in BA, but mainly they are middle class. In fact, when questioned, 9 of 10 residents say they are middle class. No one wants to be seen to be wealthy... that's just asking for trouble. The general consensus amongst the locals we've talked to is that the government is corrupt and can't be trusted. The peso is worth less by the minute with inflation running at 22% and whilst the official exchange rate is 5.3 peso to a US$ (or 4.8 peso to an A$ :-( ... the blue market rate is 8 peso to the dollar. It's apparently not a black market because everyone's doing it and you'd be crazy not to. Hmmm. Separately, the wealthy neighbourhood for the still living, Recoleta, is a bit of a hoot for many reasons. Public health isn't that hot here so many employees have their social contributions sent to private health funds, who want more members - and provide incentives like plastic surgery and cosmetic procedures every couple of years. Face lift? sure! New, natural looking breast implants? sure! We played "spot the botox" on the way home. Speaking of mutton and lamb (both male and female), tonight was the night for Parilla Libre - an all you can eat Argentinian barbecue. Kidneys, Black pudding, beef, chicken, ribs. James did us proud and probably won't need meat for a week. In all, a very, very, very long day - we were most grateful to once more get back to our hotel room. The only spot in BA we can't be walking ourselves to death in!