Or maybe even Steve Jobs

Today we spent our last few hours in Buenos Aires being tourists — drinking coffee at the tourist-trap Café Tortoni , taking photos of the Casa Rosada (where because of riots that took place on Friday there were scores of police roaming the Plaza de Mayo), visiting the national cathedral ( Catedral Metropolitana ), riding on the Subte (the subway system), visiting the Jardin Botanico Carlos Thays (where we saw dozens of the feral cats the garden is famous for), having lunch (again) at La Biela and then walking along Las Heras to this, our favorite e-mail spot.

In about two hours, our landlady arrives to check out the apartment and, we hope, return our cleaning deposit. A half hour after that a cab arrives to take us to the airport , and then two hours after that we take off for Dallas, then Seattle, then Spokane.

I´ll have more to say about Buenos Aires, and a few photos to share. But for now, I´ll just write this: B.A. is the last, best-kept secret for anyone desiring to visit a foreign city boasting more than enough cultural, historical and visual treats to warrant the 10-hour (from Dallas) flight south. It´s especially a great destination for anyone on a budget because, as anyone will tell you, the great expense is getting here. From then on, life in B.A. is enough of a bargain to make even American minimum wage seem like a fortune.

And for those of us in mid-career, it´s enough to give us a taste of what life for Bill Gates must be like.