TOP TEN

BEST PLACES FOR A MEDICAL EMERGENCY:

1. Ireland

2. United Kingdom

3. Switzerland

4. United States

5. Singapore

6. Denmark

7. Austria

8. Belgium

9. France

10. Germany

Source - MEDEX

Quote from the road

"There are no seven wonders of the world in the eyes of a child. There are 7 million."

- Walter Streightiff

On the Web

Sheer number of possibilities will get you howling

The site tripwolf.com offers information for more than 200,000 places to visit in the world. It is backed by Europe's largest publisher of travel guides, MairDumont, and offers high-quality travel tips and free printable guides for the world.

GEAR ALERT

Get UV protection under the brim

Travelers worried about skin cancer might want to check out Soleil Chic's UV protection hats. The $39.95 hats feature a 4 1/2 -inch-wide brim, adjustable chin strap and UPF 50 protection and come in yellow, purple, white or multicolored. For information, visit www.soleilchic.com.

What your dollar buys

Rates paid domestically for each dollar changed. These figures are intended only as a guide. Rates may be more favorable abroad (As of Wednesday.)

Argentina (peso) 3.0

Australia (dollar) 1.0

Brazil (real) 1.6

Canada (dollar) 1.0

Chile (peso) 491

Czech Rep. (koruna) 15.0

Denmark (krone) 4.7

Egypt (pound) 5.3

European (euro) 0.63

(Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain)

Great Britain (pound) 0.50

Hong Kong (dollar) 7.8

India (rupee) 43.1

Indonesia (rupiah) 9,140

Israel (shekel) 3.4

Japan (yen) 105

Mexico (peso) 10.3

New Zealand (dollar) 1.3

Norway (krone) 5.1

Philippines (peso) 45.3

Poland (zloty) 2.1

Russia (ruble) 23.3

Singapore (dollar) 1.3

South Africa (rand) 8

South Korea (won) 1,007

Sweden (krona) 6

Switzerland (franc) 1

Taiwan (dollar) 30.4

Thailand (baht) 33.5

Venezuela (bolivar) 2,147.5

Source: Yahoo! Finance