Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
318
Wi-Fi hotspots—including ev ery S tar-
bucks coffee shop , Kinko's copy stor e, or
McDonald's.
If you're bringing along y our laptop to
L.A., you might want to hang out in West
Hollywood, which has gone wir eless. The
City of West Hollywood is keeping visitors
connected to the Web with fr ee outdoor
high-speed wir eless I nternet access. The
pilot project area encompasses Santa Mon-
ica Boulevard between La Brea and Fairfax
avenues.
LEGAL AID
If you are “pulled over” for
a minor infraction (such as speeding), never
attempt to pay the fine dir ectly to a police
officer; this could be construed as attempted
bribery, a much mor e serious crime. P ay
fines by mail, or dir ectly into the hands of
the clerk of the cour t. If accused of a mor e
serious offense, say and do nothing befor e
consulting a lawyer. Here the burden is on
the state to pr ove a person's guilt beyond a
reasonable doubt, and ev eryone has the
right to remain silent, whether he or she is
suspected of a crime or actually arr ested.
Once arrested, a person can make one tele-
phone call to a par ty of his or her choice.
International visitors should call y
from 8am to 6pm, and Saturday from 9am
to 3pm.
Always include zip codes when mailing
items in the U.S. I f you don't know your
zip code, visit www.usps.com/zip4.
NEWSPAPERS & MAGAZINES
The
Los Angeles Times
(www.latimes.com) is a
high-quality daily with str ong local and
national co verage. I ts “Calendar ” section
(theguide.latimes.com) is an ex cellent
guide to enter tainment in and ar ound
L.A., and includes listings of what 's doing
and wher e to do it. The
L.A. W eekly
(www.laweekly.com), a free weekly listings
magazine, is packed with information on
current ev ents ar ound town.
Los Angeles
magazine (www.lamag.com) is a city-based
monthly full of ne ws, information, and
previews of L.A. 's ar t, music, and food
scenes.
World Book & News Co.,
at 1652
N. Cahuenga B lvd. (
&
323/465-4352
),
near Hollywood and Vine and Grauman's
Chinese Theatre, stocks lots of out-of-
town and for eign papers and magazines.
No one minds if y ou browse through the
magazines, but y ou'll be r eprimanded for
thumbing thr ough the ne wspapers. I t's
open 24 hours.
PASSPORTS
S ee www.frommers.com/
planning for information on how to obtain
a passport. See “Embassies & Consulates,”
above, for whom to contact if y ou lose
yours while traveling in the U.S. For other
information, please contact the follo wing
agencies:
For Residents of Australia
Contact the
Australian Passport Information Service
at
&
131-232,
or visit the go vernment
website at www.passports.gov.au.
For R esidents of C anada
Contact the
central
Passport O ffice,
Department of
Foreign Affairs and I nternational Trade,
Ottawa, ON K1A 0G3 (
12
our
embassy or consulate.
MAIL
At pr ess time, domestic postage
rates were 28¢ for a postcar d and 44¢ for
a letter. For international mail, a first-class
letter of up to 1 ounce costs 98¢ (75¢ to
Canada and 79¢ to M exico); a first-class
postcard costs the same as a letter . F or
more information go to
www.usps.com
.
If you aren't sure what your address will
be in the United States, mail can be sent to
you, in y our name, c/o G eneral Delivery
at the main post office of the city or region
where you expect to be. (Call
&
800/275-
8777
for information on the near est post
office.) The addressee must pick up mail
in person and must produce proof of iden-
tity (driver's license, passpor t, etc.). M ost
post offices will hold your mail for up to 1
month, and ar e open M onday to F riday
&
800/567-
6868;
www.ppt.gc.ca).
For Residents of Ireland
Contact the
Pass-
port O ffice,
S etanta Centr e, M olesworth
