Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
47
shops have restrooms—just ask the barista
for the key.
Barnes & Noble
and
Borders
bookstores typically hav e bathrooms near
the children's section. Major hotel lobbies
are also good bets. M ost r estaurants will
take pity on a distr essed child, so just ask;
some store owners may do the same. If you
are r eally concerned about mapping out
nearby bathr ooms, ther e's ev en a w ebsite
dedicated to the topic. The B athroom
Diaries (www .thebathroomdiaries.com)
lists 10,000 bathrooms around the world,
everywhere from Cambodia to Antarctica,
with a focus on the U.S. R
bathrooms according to cleanliness, safety,
and aesthetic beauty (believe it or not!).
NURSING MOMS &
INFANTS
Chicago is like any other city—it 's made
up of all kinds of people. While most
people will see a nursing mom and look
the other way, some might star e rudely. If
you need to br east-feed an infant, y ou'll
probably feel most comfor table in wom-
en's lounges in major depar
tment stor es
(
Nordstrom
is best).
eaders rank
11
STAYING CONNECTED
TELEPHONES
Generally, hotel sur charges on long-dis-
tance and local calls ar e astr onomical, so
you're better off using your
cellphone
or a
public pay telephone.
Many convenience
groceries and packaging ser vices sell
pre-
paid calling cards
in denominations up to
$50; for international visitors, these can be
the least expensiv e way to call home.
Many public pay phones at airpor ts now
accept American E xpress, M asterCard,
and Visa cr edit car ds.
Local calls
made
from pay phones in most locales cost 50¢
(no pennies, please).
Most long-distance and international
calls can be dialed dir ectly fr om any
phone.
For calls within the United States
and to Canada,
dial 1 followed by the area
code and the sev en-digit number .
For
other inter national calls,
dial 011 fol-
lowed by the country code, city code, and
number you are calling.
Calls to area codes
800, 888, 877,
and
866
ar e toll-fr ee. H owever, calls to ar ea
codes
700
and
900
(chat lines, bulletin
boards, “dating” ser vices, and so on) can
be very expensive—usually a charge of 95¢
to $3 or more per minute, and they some-
times have minimum charges that can run
as high as $15 or mor e.
For
reversed-charge or collect calls,
and for person-to-person calls, dial the
number 0 and then the ar ea code and
number; an operator will come on the
line, and y ou should specify whether y ou
are calling collect, person-to-person, or
both. If your operator-assisted call is inter-
national, ask for the overseas operator.
For
local directory assistance
(“infor-
mation”), dial 411; for long-distance
2
information, dial 1, then the appr opriate
area code, and 555-1212.
CELLPHONES
Just because your cellphone works at home
doesn't mean it 'll work everywhere in the
U.S. (thanks to our nation 's fragmented
cellphone system). It's a good bet that your
phone will work in major cities, but take a
look at y our wir eless company's co verage
map on its w ebsite befor e heading out;
T-Mobile, Sprint, and N extel are particu-
larly w eak in r ural ar eas. I f y ou need to
stay in touch at a destination wher e y ou
know y our phone won 't wor k,
rent
a
phone that does fr om
InTouch USA
(
&
800/872-7626;
www .intouchglobal.
com) or a rental-car location, but be aware
that y ou'll pay $1 a minute or mor
e for
airtime.
