Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
If you need emergency cash on a week-
end or holiday when banks and American
Express offices are closed, you can have
money wired to you through
Western
Union
(
&
800/325-6000;
www.western
union.com).
If you lose something in a cab, contact
the Boston Police Department's
Hackney
Unit
(
&
617/343-4475;
www.cityof
boston.gov/police).
Mail
At press time, domestic postage
rates were 27¢ for a postcard and 42¢ for
a letter. For international mail, a first-
class letter of up to 1 ounce costs 94¢
(72¢ to Canada and Mexico); a first-class
postcard costs the same as a letter. For
more information, go to
www.usps.com
and click on “Calculate Postage.”
If you aren't sure what your address
will be in the United States, mail can be
sent to you, in your name, c/o General
Delivery at the main post office of the
city or region where you expect to be.
(Call
&
800/275-8777
for information
on the nearest post office.) The addressee
must pick up mail in person and must
produce proof of identity (driver's license,
passport, etc.). Most post offices will hold
your mail for up to 1 month, and are
open Monday to Friday from 8am to
6pm, and Saturday from 9am to 3pm.
Always include zip codes when mailing
items in the U.S. If you don't know your
zip code, visit www.usps.com/zip4.
Maps
To supplement the maps pro-
vided with this guide, pick up free maps
of downtown Boston and the subway
lines at visitor information centers
around the city, from hotel concierge
desks and pamphlet racks, and from most
trolley operators (ask the ticket seller).
National Park Service
maps, available
from the visitor centers at 15 State St. and
the Charlestown Navy Yard, are especially
useful.
Where
magazine, available free at
most hotels, contains maps of central
Boston and the T.
Measurements
See the chart on the
inside front cover of this topic for details
on converting metric measurements to
nonmetric equivalents.
Medical Conditions
If you have a
medical condition that requires
syringe-
administered medications,
carry a valid
signed prescription from your physician;
syringes in carry-on baggage will be
inspected. Insulin in any form should
have the proper pharmaceutical docu-
mentation. If you have a disease that
requires treatment with
narcotics,
you
should also carry documented proof with
you—smuggling narcotics aboard a plane
carries severe penalties in the U.S.
For
HIV-positive visitors,
require-
ments for entering the United States are
somewhat vague and change frequently.
For up-to-the-minute information, con-
tact
AIDSinfo
(
&
800/448-0440
or 301/
519-6616 outside the U.S.; www.aidsinfo.
nih.gov) or the
Gay Men's Health Crisis
(
&
212/367-1000;
www.gmhc.org).
Newspapers & Magazines
The daily
Boston Globe, Boston Herald, New York
Times, USA Today,
and
Wall Street Journal
are available at convenience stores, news-
stands, some supermarkets, and sidewalk
newspaper boxes all over the Boston area.
National newsweeklies include
Newsweek,
Time,
and
U.S. News & World Report.
The
free, arts-oriented
Boston Phoenix,
pub-
lished on Thursday, has extensive enter-
tainment and restaurant listings.
Where,
a monthly magazine available
free at most hotels, lists information
about shopping, nightlife, attractions,
and current shows at museums and
art galleries. Newspaper boxes dispense
free copies of
Stuff@Night,
a biweekly
Phoenix
offshoot with selective listings
and arts coverage; the irreverent
Weekly
Dig,
which covers news, entertainment,
and dining; the biweekly
Improper
Bostonian,
with extensive event and
restaurant listings; and the weekly
Ta b ,
