Florida street in Buenos Aires is a half mile pedestrian only shopping area, including small boutiques, fast food and a shopping mall. As you walk the street there are dozens of people calling out “cambio, cambio” or “change money”.

The cambio is a black market money exchange primarily looking to change pesos for dollars. They will typically give you a better exchange rate on the dollar than the bank, or official rate. This is known as the blue rate, and during times of high inflation it can be significantly higher than the official rate. But the cambios also are known to be scammers who pass counterfeit bills or otherwise cheat unsuspecting customers. The blue rate currently is only slightly higher than the official rate, so the cambios didn’t seem to be doing much business.

There is a very nice shopping mall on Florida Street, and we walked in to find many typical US brands, including Levi’s and American Tourister as well as local brands selling everything from gaucho wear to lingerie. Melissa found a couple of dresses, and I bought a linen shirt. We’re not sure how we can get them in our already overstuffed bags.

We had a nice sandwich of burratta, sun dried tomatoes and prosciutto on focaccia bread at a salumaria near our hotel. Then, afternoon siesta.

As the day cooled off we went for a walk through the park to the clock tower and visited the train station. The main entrance is closed for renovations, but it is a classic early 20th century building. On the walk back through the park there were scores of children playing on the playground. Occasionally a homeless person and the strong smell of urine remind us we’re in a big city.

We find a really good pizza place called Pizza Nika and order a pie. The waiter is from Russia.