Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
292
For R esidents of C anada:
P assport
applications are available at travel agencies
throughout Canada or fr om the central
Passport O ffice,
Department of F oreign
Affairs and I nternational Trade, O ttawa,
ON K1A 0G3 (
&
800/567-6868;
www.
ppt.gc.ca). As of J une 1, 2009, Canadian
residents arriving in the U nited States by
sea or land will be required to have a valid
passport; those arriving by air have already
been r equired to hav e a passpor t or
NEXUS card used at designated airports.
For R esidents of I reland:
Y ou can
apply for a 10-y ear passpor t at the
Pass-
port Office,
Setanta Centre, Molesworth
Street, Dublin 2 (
&
01/671-1633;
www.
irlgov.ie/iveagh). Those under age 18 and
over 65 must apply for a €12 3-y ear pass-
port. You can also apply at 1A South Mall,
Cork (
&
021/272-525
) or at most main
post offices.
For R esidents of N ew Z ealand:
Y ou
can pick up a passpor t application at any
New Z ealand P assports O ffice or do wn-
load it fr om their w ebsite. Contact the
Passports Office
at
&
0800/22-5050
in
New Z ealand or +64-4/474-8100, or log
on to www.passports.govt.nz.
For R esidents of the U nited K ing-
dom:
To pick up an application for a
standard 10-y ear passpor t (5-yr. passpor t
for children under 16), visit y our nearest
passport office, major post office, or travel
agency, or contact the
United K ingdom
Passport S ervice
advice line at
&
0300
222 0000
or sear ch its w ebsite at www .
ukpa.gov.uk.
PETS
All the hotels in the Kimpton
(925-47336; www.walgreens.com) for the
address and phone number of the near est
store. Ar ound U nion S quare, the Wal-
green's at 459 P owell S t., at S utter S t.
(
&
415/984-0793
), is open 24 hours, but
the pharmacy por tion has mor e limited
hours. Branches at 3201 Divisadero St. (at
Lombard St.;
&
415/931-6497
) and 498
Castro St. (at 18th St.;
&
415/861-3136
)
have 24-hour pharmacies.
POLICE
The emergency number is
&
911.
Call from any phone (no coins ar e
needed from pay phones). The non-emer-
gency number is
&
415/553-0123.
RESTROOMS
Dark gr een public lav a-
tories ar e located b y U nion S quare on
Geary S treet, on the water front at P IER
39, on M arket S treet near the cable car
turnaround, on P owell Street, and at the
Civic Center, among other locations. They
cost 25¢ and ar e clean and safe. Also tr y
hotels, museums, depar tment stor es, and
service stations. M ost r estaurants r eserve
their facilities for patrons only.
SMOKING
California law pr ohibits
smoking in public buildings, r estaurants,
and bars. Many hotels are completely non-
smoking, and others hav e limited floors
for smokers. I nquire when y ou phone for
reservations.
TAXES
Sales tax of 8.5% is added to all
purchases. The hotel tax is 14%.
TELEPHONES
For dir ectory assistance,
dial
&
411.
Pay phones (which are getting
difficult to find) cost 35¢ to 50¢ for local
calls.
Generally, hotel sur charges on long-
distance and local calls ar e astr onomical,
so you're better off using y our
cellphone
or a
public pay telephone.
Many conve-
nience gr oceries and packaging ser vices
sell
prepaid calling car ds
in denomina-
tions up to $50; for international visitors
these can be the least expensiv e way to
call home. Many public phones at airports
now accept American Express, MasterCard,
and Visa cr edit car ds.
Local calls
made
chain (such as the M onaco, S errano, and
Argonaut) accept dogs and cats, as do some
upscale pr operties like the S t. R egis. The
Joie de Vivre hotel chain is also pet friendly.
Other hotels, such as the N ikko, limit pets
to dogs. Dogs must be leashed in most city
parks, and you must pick up after them.
PHARMACIES
Walgreens,
the S tar-
bucks of dr ugstores, has stor es just about
everywhere. Phone
&
800/WALGREEN
