After speaking to many people close to the situation and banks, it is clear that progress at each institution is moving at different speeds.

Both of these trends suggest increasing numbers of people are losing faith with our paper money system, presided over by central bankers, and opting out of the system for something altogether more tangible.

Average cocktail price: ARS$50 (?6).

Art patrons have traditionally been great connoisseurs of fashion, as becomes apparent from viewing Facing the Modern: The Portrait in Vienna 1900 . This haunting exhibition, which has just opened at the National Gallery, demonstrates that having you and your couture outfit captured by one of the new wave of Secessionist artists was the 1912 equivalent of posting a selfie on Twitter.

"I dont believe it can be done safely," says Lawrence Dunne, a professor of engineering at London South Bank, who lives in the village. He is worried about air pollution from flaring gas that is produced as a by-product, and of the consequences of an accident at the well, which is just hundreds of yards from the nearest houses. The effects could be felt in the village within two minutes, he says, leaving no time to evacuate.