a)     Describe any safety tips you have discovered while abroad.

Basically you just need to follow the typical safety rules you have heard a million times: Always be aware of your surroundings, keep an eye on your purse/wallet, watch your drinks, know the local emergency number, never go out alone, stay out of the bad parts of town and so on. I would say Belfast is pretty safe in terms of your typical concerns for traveling. The issues here affect more people who are militant members. Although, you do risk getting caught in the crossfire, but even still, I would say it is a lot safer here than Pittsburgh. When traveling in big cities you have to watch your back a lot more. When we were in Paris we constantly kept an eye on our stuff. For example, we put our valuables in our inner coat pockets and watched them and our bags carefully. When standing in a crowd or on a subway, turn your backpack so that it is on the front of you and you can hold it to keep it covered. You also have to keep an eye out for not-so-obvious situations. Some little girls came up to us and asked us for donations for the blind and dumb association. They had paperwork to try and make it look official but it was a scam. They were pretending they were deaf and sick and were rubbing our arms, kissing their fingers and touching them to us to say thank you for the donation (even though we had not given them anything because we were suspicious) to make us feel bad. The next day we saw the same girls running around, singing and shouting to one another. It is sad that they are raised that way. I am sure they need money because they are immigrants and their parents probably can’t get jobs there because of it, but still. Maybe they meant no harm, but you need to be careful. Someone easily could have pick-pocketed us when they were touching us and such. This just goes back to being aware of your surroundings and using common sense.

b)     What are the best local traveler secrets that you have learned so far?  This should be a tip that you wouldn’t have known before arriving at your location

Hmmm. A local traveller secret…I really am not sure. Do the pubs with the best live music count? Hahah. I guess one could be that if you are traveling with 3 or more people, it is cheaper to get a taxi than take the bus, and fona-cab is the best company here especially if you are by Queens. Also, Guinness chocolate cake is delicious if made properly. Mmmm. Oh! And the best place to go on the weekends is St. George’s market in the city centre. There is usually live music, and sooo much yummy food and fun things to look at. It closes at 1 though so make sure it’s one of the first things on your agenda.