To the city's poet laureate, Jorge Luis Borges, Buenos Aires was as eternal as air and water. To many Argentines, their capital city is synonymous with the country itself, and indeed 40% of the population lives in the city's massive, sprawling suburbs. Buenos Aires is situated on the banks of the Río de la Plata in the Federal Capital district, and not, as one would expect, in Buenos Aires province. A city transported from its European parent, its compact and regular centre is reminiscent of Paris, but its tree-lined avenues and frequent plazas hava a beguiling, faded elegance. The city throngs with bankers on the make and sophisticated dressers mingling with the gaunt beggars and unemployed from the surrounding shanty-town suburbs. Downtown, the Plaza de Mayo is the traditional focus of activity, while nearby Avenida 9 de Julio is popularly known as the world's widest thoroughfare and is truly a pedestrian's nightmare. Avenida Santa Fe is the most fashionable shopping area.

MONTEVIDEO, URUGUAY (OKTOBER 1997)

Just click to see Montevideo map

The capital and only large city sprawls along the banks of the Río de la Plata, almost directly opposite Buenos Aires. It's a picturesque place of colonial Spanish, Italian and Art Deco styles. Most attention is focused on the Ciudad Vieja, the old city built on a peninsula close to the port and harbour, and the commercial centre, located around Plaza Independencia to the east. To get your bearings in the city centre, take a walk from Plaza Independencia, the grandest of Montevideo's squares, through the Ciudad Vieja to the port. On the plaza is the black-marbled Mauseleo de Artigas, topped by an enormous statue of the national hero, and the 26-storey Palacio Salvo, the tallest building in South America when built in 1927 and still the tallest in the city today.