Exploring Amsterdam one Stroopwafel at a time
Our points strategy has always been to try and find economy seats for the least amount of miles so we can take as many trips as possible. Since Deb’s back and ankle surgery, our strategy has changed and now we are looking for international flights with lie-flat seats for the least amount of miles (getting older is NOT for sissies!). While pouring over the chat rooms and forums looking for points deals, I came across an ad that Jet Blue was adding a new route from JFK to Paris, and they were going to have a 2-day sale for the inaugural route. Jet Blue’s international business flights have Mint Suites, which are mini-pods with lie-flat seats, the largest domestic TV screens in service, gourmet meals and sliding doors making it your own private suite in the air. Typically, these flights are $2500-3000 each way, and they were being sold for just $1800 Round Trip. There are times when the cash cost is actually better than the return on points and this was one of those times. This was definitely more than we would typically spend on a flight, but we knew we’d never see that price for the Mint suites again, so we decided to give it a try. We want to see All.The.Countries. and we had already been to Paris, so we looked at the map to see what else was nearby. We found that the Netherlands was pretty close, and Eurostar had a fast train from Paris to Amsterdam that only took 3 hours, so we figured why not! (Of course not too long after we bought our tickets Jet Blue introduced a new route to Amsterdam with an inaugural flight sale but that’s just my luck!)
All of Jet Blue’s international flights leave from either Boston or New York’s JFK, so we took a positioning flight from Florida to New York. Most business or first-class flights come with lounge access, but Jet Blue does not have a lounge at JFK, so we used our Priority Pass access to spend time in the Virgin Atlantic lounge during our 6-hour layover. There are no Priority Pass lounges in Jet Blue’s Terminal 5, but there are several in Terminal 4 though it is a hike to get there. (Want to know more about getting free access to lounges? Click here) I know that sounds like a long layover, but we chose it on purpose. Most airlines have only one flight from the US to an international destination, so if our flight from PBI to JFK was late and we missed the flight from JFK to CDG, we wouldn’t be able to get another one until the following night and at that point it would be in economy if Mint Suites were unavailable.
We are your average travelers and are not used to business class flights, so we were probably a little too excited boarding the plane snapping pictures and admiring the seats – you could definitely tell it was our first time. The Mint tickets allow you priority boarding, so we got to our seats where our assigned flight attendants offered us boarding drinks of white wine or a “Mint Condition”, which is Bombay sapphire gin or Tito’s vodka, ginger, lime, cucumber and mint. There was a pillow and blanket set out on our chair, along with an amenity kit that contained slippers, a sleep mask, and a toothbrush and toothpaste. The TV swung around and tilted so you could watch it in either the sleeping or sitting position, and there were over ear headphones provided. There were a number of different chargers, an area to store your bag and laptop, mood lighting, a wireless charger and a bottle of water. The seat could be moved at three different junctures, so you could pretty much be in whatever position you wanted. When I laid out straight the bed was decently comfortable though not extremely wide. I’m 5’8” and the leg room was good, but those who are taller might find it a bit scrunched. The area was pretty comfortable, and once the suite door was closed you did feel like you were in your own room. As a matter of fact, it was SO comfortable you could hear snores coming from Deb’s Suite and she rarely sleeps on planes 😊.
Once you sat down, the Flight Attendants prompted you to access meal ordering on the television to place your order. Dinner came about an hour after we were in the air, and breakfast about an hour and half before we landed. The dinner consisted of picking three of four small plates, lasagna, escarole salad, chilled tomato soup, or pan-roasted chicken. Dessert was vanilla gelato with roasted peaches, and a hazelnut shortbread crumble or a cheese plate. Breakfast consisted of picking two out of three light bites, blueberries with thyme syrup and mint, salted yogurt with lemon marmalata or a frittata with roasted cherry tomatoes and herbs. All of the food was delicious. They had a number of drinks available, and if you didn’t want to be woken up you could get a dinner or breakfast bag on demand. We were thoroughly spoiled, and my Spirit flight a week later with seats that didn’t recline and water for sale looked so sad in comparison!
We arrived in Paris at 6:55 am and were in the city by 8:00 am. Thanks to our lay flat seats we were more rested than usual after a red-eye flight and were raring to go. Because we had luggage and didn’t feel like lugging it around, we went ahead and ordered an Uber, but there are plenty of trains that will take you into the city that are much cheaper. Debbie’s favorite part of Paris is Montmarte, so we booked a cute little boutique hotel, Hotel Lepic 29, right around the corner from the Moulin Rouge. We dropped our bags at the hotel, so that we could wander around until our room was ready. We first went to Place du Tertre which is a little square a few blocks from Sacre Coeur known for its painters and caricaturist artists and is surrounded by charming little cafes. When we arrived, it was early and the painters don’t really get started until around 10 a.m., so we settled in to seats at one of the cafés for some crepes and coffee. I have to be honest, I LOVE sitting at the outdoor café tables and people watching, but as an introvert I HATE the seating in European restaurants. The tables are usually crammed so close together that you are touching the person sitting next to you – who is probably smoking a cigarette. For that reason, we typically have our meals just outside the busy times so it’s not quite as bad. We watched the artists set up and the tourists start to file in, then we spent the day wandering the area, popping into the shops and having beef bourguignon for dinner at Le Relais Gascon.
Paris was just a stop off for us, so we got to bed early and then took a Eurostar fast train from Paris to Amsterdam on Monday morning which took about 3 hours, getting us into Amsterdam a little before 11:00 a.m. We booked as soon as the dates became available on the website and ended up paying $239 for both of us roundtrip with Comfort on the way there and Standard on the way back. (There really wasn’t much difference in the seats and Standard is fine). There were even cheaper options as well depending on the time of day you wanted to go. When I looked the day of our trip, the prices ranged from $320 and $510 roundtrip EACH depending on the time of day and some days they were sold out so make sure you book ahead of time if possible.
We downloaded the GVB app which covers buses, metros and trams within Amsterdam. You can either pay with a credit card on the tram/at the metro station, or you can buy one of the unlimited passes. We bought a 5-day pass for 33€, but they have 1, 2, 3 and 4 day options, as well as a group day ticket for 17.50€ for up to five people travelling with you. Most of the single trips are about 1.40€ each so do the math and see if it works out for you. Amsterdam is very walkable, and you would have to take a little over 4 rides a day for this to be worthwhile. Since Deb had just had ankle surgery, we probably used the trams more than other people would and it was worth it for us, but just barely. Even if you’re not buying an unlimited pass, the GVB app is valuable as you type in your destination and it will tell you what form of transportation to use, how to get there, and how long it will take. One thing to remember, when using the trams and buses in Amsterdam you have to scan your card or app both when you get on and get off the vehicle otherwise you will be charged extra. For the metros you will need to scan in and out of the station but won’t need to scan on the metro itself.
We stayed at the NH Amsterdam City Center which we felt was in a good location. Many Europeans don’t have central air-conditioning which was very important for us, so we made sure to get a hotel that did. The hotel is an 18-minute walk from the station, but since we had bags, we took the Metro from the station to Rokin, and then had a 6-minute walk to the hotel. We intended to just drop off our bags, but when we got to the hotel, they told us they had a room ready, so we headed up and unpacked.
Whenever I plan a trip, I create a new Google My Maps Map, and then add all the places we want to go. That way I can see what places are next to each other, and I can group our days into seeing things in the same area so we can see as much as possible. When we visit new cities, I always look for a “city” card to see how much it costs, what attractions you can visit with it and then compare it to the attractions we want to see. Many times it’s not worth it, but in Amsterdam we actually ended up getting a GoCity 3-day card for each of us for 94€ a piece. When planning our itinerary, I made sure places we were going to use the card fell in the 3-day time frame. In our case we used the following, which would have cost 232.40€ each:
|
Attraction |
Normal Price |
|
Rotterdam, Hague, Delft Tour |
59.50 |
|
Vollendam, Zaanses Schans, Edam Tour |
44.50 |
|
Tulip Museum |
5.00 |
|
This is Holland 5D ride |
23.00 |
|
A’dam Lookout (did not include swing) |
14.50 |
|
Rijksmuseum |
22.50 |
|
Moco Museum |
20.95 |
|
Stedelijik Museum |
22.50 |
|
Tour De Bon Ton |
19.95 |
There were also attractions that we didn’t visit but other people probably would that were included, such as the Heineken Experience, a Canal Tour, Madam Tussauds, Bike Rentals, Amaze, and during season a trip to Keukenhof to see the Tulips. ProTip: If you’re going to do an all-day tour using the card, try and do it on the last day. Because the Rotterdam and Vollendam tours were basically full days tours and I would only have one full day left to visit other attractions, I planned the Rotterdam tour on Wednesday, and the Vollendam tour on Friday with a 9:30 a.m. start. On Tuesday, I waited until 10:30 a.m. and started using the card. I was then able to do the other things most of the day Tuesday and all day Thursday, knowing that my card would expire on Friday at 10:30 a.m., but since the tour started at 9:30 a.m. and they scan the pass at the beginning of the tour I really got four days-worth of attractions instead of three.
That first day we headed out to Dam Square to do some people watching and just experience the city. We started with the Happy Pig for lunch which was right next to our hotel. Here they serve Pannenkoek, or Dutch Pancakes. Pannenkoek are usually larger and thinner than their American counterparts, and they can be eaten plain with a dark, thick apple syrup called stroop and powdered sugar. They can also be filled with things like bacon, apples, raisins and cheese. I had one with gouda and fig jam, while Deb had one with bananas and nutella. There are so many pancake shops in Amsterdam that you will be able to find one near wherever you are staying. Our first Amsterdam tasting was a success as they were delicious!
We wandered through the nine streets area known for its shopping taking pictures of the artistically decorated bicycles on every canal bridge, and stopped in at Febo which has large vending machines with hot foods such as croquettes, bitterballen, french fries and burgers.
We marveled at the “coffee” shops on every corner. In Amsterdam if you go to a coffee shop for a good cup of coffee you will be seriously disappointed as these are their marijuana shops. If, however, you are looking for Indica or a Space Cake, you are in the right spot! There were even gummies at Mike Tyson’s coffee shop in the shape of an ear! There are plenty of places to smoke, but new rules impose a 100€ fine for public marijuana smoking so make sure you light up in the coffee shop. If you really are looking for a coffee, then a café is what you’re looking for. One thing to keep in mind is that the Dutch ride bicycles everywhere. We saw endless people riding to work or school, and mums with their young ones in tow riding in a large cart attached to the bike. It’s an amazing sight to see and does wonders for their carbon emission, but if you’re from a place where riding bikes is not common, you need to pay attention to the bike lanes and know the bike riders have the right of way there. I saw numerous tourists step out in front of the riders and it’s a wonder no one was hurt.
We ended the night in the famous Red-Light district, and although we did not visit any of the women in the windows, we DID however ride the 5D Porn ride and when the soap bubble sperm shot out at us, we were laughing so hard that we really couldn’t follow the “plot” lol!
The next morning, we had brunch at Ted’s, a quaint little brunch restaurant near the Anne Frank house. We saw them turn away a number of people so make a reservation if you want to try it. The food was amazing, Deb had the Pornstar Martini French Toast, which had passionfruit mascarpone, banana, passionfruit mango coulis and Bastogne cookie crumble served with a shot of bubbly. I had the breakfast burrito, and the homemade tomato salsa was to die for! We saw a number of people trying the Donut ‘N Chicken, a sweet chili glazed donut with Karaage fried-chicken and a maple shot – their own menu says it’s “AMAZEBALLS AF”! I’d go back in a heartbeat!
From Ted’s we wandered around the corner to do a quintessential Amsterdam experience – a canal tour. There are a number of different canal tours to choose from – some serve dinner, or dessert, and some like the Smokeboat, encourage you to partake in your smoke of choice on board. We chose Those Damn Boat Guys, partly because of the rave reviews from other tourists, partly because of their website that had witty instructions like, “For public tours with friendly strangers, head over to “book Tickets” to learn more or if you can’t wait or can’t read, click the bright red “Book Now” button.” The tour guides are sarcastic and fun, think the Seinfeld Soup Nazi. They don’t provide drinks or snacks on board, but you can bring whatever you want to partake in or buy something at their shop. They use small boats that seat about 8, and in the winter, they have a plastic top. They also provide umbrellas, ponchos and blankets if needed. They do allow people to smoke so if that’s not your thing you might want to book another tour. We risked it and thankfully ended up with no other smokers on our tour. The tour is a great introduction to the city and gives you a view of everyday life from the water. The tour guide asked everyone their plans in Amsterdam and Deb gleefully pointed out I had a spreadsheet. A few people laughed until they asked the guide what restaurants he would recommend for dinner, and he said the place locals go for a meal was Van Kerkwijk which just so happened to be on my spreadsheet as the place I chose for my birthday dinner! You can bet they all wanted to see my spreadsheet then 😉.
Next up was a trip to Winkel 43 which boasts it has the best Apple pie in Amsterdam. It’s a deep-dish apple pie, hot out of the oven with cinnamon and their own whipped cream. I don’t know if it’s the best I’ve ever had – but it was pretty darn good and there was a constant stream of customers waiting to try a slice
From there we went to the A’dam lookout, (included in the GoCity card) which is a tall building with a bar/restaurant on top and an outdoor deck with views of the city. They also have a swing on the viewing deck which they claim is the highest swing in Europe that brings you out over the edge of the building. A’dam is across the IJ (river) from downtown Amsterdam, but there are free ferries that run every few minutes from Centraal Station. Also in the same area is the This is Holland 5D Ride (think Soarin’ from Universal Studios) so while we waited for our ride time, we had drinks and fries with mayo (another Netherlands favorite) at the Butcher. The ride was very cool, but had it not been a part of the City card I don’t think it would have been worth the 23€ they charge for admission. We headed back to Prinsengracht to visit the Tulip Museum , and ate dinner at a steak house, Black and Bleu. The steaks were great, and we were glad we had made reservations before we came as we noticed a lot of Amsterdam restaurants were booked solid. If there is some place you know that you really want to eat and they take reservations, I would suggest making one. When making reservations I found that unlike the USA, many restaurants in Amsterdam charge you a small deposit to guarantee your reservation. Once paid I was able to change the time for my reservation when needed as long as there was a table available.
Finally, we visited one of the things I most wanted to see – the Anne Frank house. Prior to coming we watched the movie A Small Light about Miep Gies, one of the Dutch citizens who risked their lives to shelter the Frank family. (If you haven’t seen it, I highly suggest watching it. It’s very well done). If you want to visit the house, know that you will have to plan in advance as tickets are sold-out within minutes of being offered on-line and they don’t sell them at the door. They are only sold on the official website Home | Anne Frank House and they go on sale at 4 a.m. EST every Tuesday for a visit 6 weeks later. (If you miss that date, try again the following Tuesday – sometimes they release a few extra if available). You can buy a normal tour which lets you walk through the house and see the Annex where the Franks hid which takes about an hour, or you can buy a ticket with a program. During the program a historian talks to you about the Franks and the situation in Amsterdam at that time. We wanted the program, and I woke up at 4 a.m. to buy tickets for our visit. I entered our preferred time, which was actually first thing in the morning, but my payment was declined. I didn’t realize my credit card company was sending texts to my phone asking if the transaction was legitimate, and when I finally figured it out 5 minutes later and clicked on yes, my preferred time was gone. I ended up with tickets for 8:00 p.m. instead, so when they say they go fast – they go FAST! It was such a solemn experience walking through the hidden door behind the bookcase and up the stairs knowing that the Franks had been here so many years before.
Because we wanted to see more of the Netherlands than just Amsterdam, the next day we took a tour with Tour Company Netherlands (included in the GoCity card) which went to Rotterdam, Delft and the Hague. It was a 10-hour tour which granted was long, and you only got a little bit of time in each city, but it was nice to see other parts of the country. The buses were nice, and had a bathroom and charging outlets, and the tour guides walked with you to talk about places you were seeing in the city. In Rotterdam we visited Markthal partly because it’s a very cool place, but partly because it was raining and being inside was better than outside lol! It’s a cool indoor market in the heart of Rotterdam where Deb immediately set out to find mulled wine. The architecture in the city was amazing – none of the multi-story buildings were just large rectangles, they all had some kind of artistic way to utilize the space. The Hague is the administrative and government seat of the Netherlands, we saw the parliament building and walked through the downtown area. And of course, there was a visit to the Delft factory where they showed you how all the famous blue and white Delft pottery was made.
The next day was museum day, we went to Museumplein, which is an area where most of the famous museums are. We like to visit museums when we travel, but we’re not really museum “people”. We like to see the famous pieces of course, and enjoy seeing some of the photography, realism and modern exhibits, but we typically only stay an hour or two at each place. We visited the Rijksmuseum and saw the Night Watch, the Milkmaid and Van Gogh’s self-portrait. Next, we went to the Moco to see the Banksy Exhibit and although I enjoyed it, it was a very small museum and was VERY claustrophobic. If you have mobility issues this is NOT the place for you. Next up was the Stedelijik Museum to see the Keith Haring (I was familiar with his dancing guys but had no idea his work was so phallic lol!) and Yayoi Kusama exhibits, and finally the VanGogh museum to see Sunflowers and a million of his self-portraits lol! If you’re interested in the VanGogh museum, make sure you buy tickets ahead of time as they are typically sold out. (Rijks, Moco and Stedelijik were included on the GoCity card, VanGogh is not).
After the museums we went to one of my favorite tours of the whole trip, Tour De Bon Ton (included on the GoCity card) – this was a one-hour tour of one of the sex clubs in Amsterdam. You met with a former sex worker, who talked about her experience and the state of sex work in Amsterdam in general. There was a tour of the property, and the worker talked very openly about her experiences with clients, and how the government treats them as second class citizens. Even though sex work is legal, they are pushing to remove the redlight windows from the tourist areas. Sex workers are required to have a license but are not eligible for measures typically granted to other self-employed workers such as business bank accounts, disability benefits or unemployment benefits. The whole thing was fascinating. There were only four of us on the tour and I was highly amused at the other couple who were asking the guide what they could bring to her as a gift when they “came back” later that night lol!
We ended the night at Foodhallen, a local Food Hall where were tried Bitterballen and a number of different Dutch foods. Bitterballen are basically a deep-fried, crispy, bite-size ball of meaty gravy that is usually eaten with mustard. We got the sampler plater with beef, bouillabaisse, Thom kah kai, aged cheese/spinach and truffle parsnip. It was a great idea in theory, but it was very busy so be prepared to wait in multiple lines or decide with your eating partners what you want to sample and split up to wait in line.
On Friday we did another tour with the GoCity card, this time to Vollendam, Edam and Zaansee Schans. This was probably my favorite of the two tours we took. Vollendam was a bustling little seaside town where we walked the streets and then visited the harbor which was full of souvenir shops, restaurants and fishing boats. We watched the fishermen pulling in their nets and had seafood for lunch.
Next up was Edam, even the drizzly fog we encountered couldn’t hide the beauty of the cobbled streets with their shops and stunning architecture built around the canals. Amsterdam was built on unclaimed marshland where building was nearly impossible. They created dams to hold back the water so they were able to build, and most of the canals there are manmade. This means floods can decimate areas and due to climate change they are constantly fighting to keep their land above water. The neighborhood we walked through had manual locks, where someone had to physically go out and open the gates to let water out.
We also visited the Kaaswaag Edam. This is part of the Henri Willig cheese dynasty, and we toured the factory where the cows are milked, and the cheese is made. Long gone are the days of milking by hand and it was interesting to watch the cows in the milker. There was of course a cheese shop with as many types of cheese as you can imagine, Pesto, Truffle, Cumin, Goat, Cheese, Sheep just to name a few – and lots of samples! Edam is famous for its namesake cheese, which is a sweet-curd cheese very similar to Gouda but made with part-skim milk. We may or may not have walked out with a big bag o’cheese to bring home! (Many of the cheeses can remain unrefrigerated for months until opening).
The last stop was a must-do Netherlands experience – the windmills at Zaanse Schans. Zaanse Schans is a pretty little village with mills, shops, barns and of course windmills. You can watch a clog making demonstration, visit the coopery to see them make barrels, visit the weaver’s house to see how the windmill sails are made, watch pewter jewelry being made by hand, visit a cheese shop, or tour the windmills. You can even rent bikes in the area. We did this on a tour, so we only had an hour or so to visit, but it’s about 20 minutes from Amsterdam and you can easily take a bus here and visit on your own. I would highly recommend it! Overall, this is a great tour to get a sampling of what the Netherlands has to offer besides Amsterdam. Keep in mind though, you don’t get a lot of time in each place so if you’re in the Netherlands for a while, I’d visit on my own rather than through a tour.
Since it was my birthday, I got to choose the restaurant that night and I picked Van Kerkwijk. (My choice was validated by our Those Dam Boat Guys guide if you remember 😊) This quirky little restaurant had good food at a great price. They don’t take reservations, the menu changes daily, and is explained to you at the table. I had the Tender Beefsteak with goat cheese and strawberry sauce, while Deb had Salmon with a miso glaze, wasabi and thinly sliced cucumbers. The couple at the table next to us had been in Amsterdam for a week and told us this was the third time they’d eaten there they liked it so much! I would have loved to show you pictures, but we were so excited we ate before we took them lol!
Saturday we slept in a little bit to catch up on all the early days we had this week. Then walked down to Van Wonderen. One of the foods you have to try in Amsterdam is a Stroopwafle. A Stroopwafel is a thin waffle cookie made from two layers of sweet baked dough held together by a syrupy caramel filling. I had always passed them up when they were served on planes – little did I know what I was missing out on, they’re delicious! Van Wonderen is often featured as THE place to get a Stroopwafle, and it was good, but I think its popularity has a lot to do with the colorful toppings and whimsical interiors that look so good on Instagram. A small Stroopwafle was 10€ with the larger ones costing even more.
Luckily we headed down to the Albert Cuyp market, which is a large outdoor market with food, jewelry and craft stalls. One of the first stalls we came upon was Goudse Stroopwafel and they sold the hot, giant stroopwafel’s for just 3€ which were delicious and a much better deal. They even had gift bags of the small Stroopwafels 3 bags for 8€ Euros and we bought a whole case to bring back to friends and family. Though *some* of the bags that were slated for friends may have been eaten before we had the chance to give them out lol! We wandered through the Bloemenmarkt, which is a floating flower market where they sell tulip bulbs to be shipped worldwide.
Though we shouldn’t have been hungry, we had lunch at Kaasbar, which is a cheese bar with a conveyor belt so you sit at the bar and order cheeses as they pass by, or you can sit at a table for other options. I was very sad we weren’t there Mon-Thurs for their fondue options. After lunch we went back to the hotel to grab our luggage and headed to the train station for our train back to Paris, and our Mint flight home.
We arrived in Paris at about 7, and our intention was to take an Uber to the hotel which was near the airport, but they wanted 60€ to take us from the train station to the airport while the taxis wanted 80€. We ended up grabbing an RER train ticket from the kiosk that brought us directly to the airport for 10€, then it was a short 12€ uber ride to the hotel. We probably could have gotten a cheaper Uber ride if we had gotten off at the exit prior to the airport, but I was too tired to figure out any more logistics at that point.
Since we had an early flight the next morning, we chose a cheap hotel by the airport so we could get up and go – the Ibis Styles Paris Roissy CDG hotel for $127. The hotel was on the outskirts of the airport (there was actually an Ibis hotel at the airport itself, but the rates were MUCH higher). This was NOT a luxury hotel, it looked a little bit like an army barrack if I’m being honest, but the price and location couldn’t be beat, and we just needed a clean place for a good night’s sleep. The hotel catered to airport transit customers and had free breakfast and a shuttle to the airport for 5€ a person. The front desk clerks were super friendly and even helped us order take out to the hotel for dinner. (They did have a restaurant, but it only served a buffet meal, and we just weren’t that hungry after all the Stroopwafels we had eaten).
The Mint flight was just as enjoyable on the way back, and we had a 6-hour layover at JFK before returning home. I ran into a little hiccup at JFK, so I was grateful for our long layover. For some reason, my name constantly pulls for the dreaded SSSS, which is a secondary security screening when returning to the USA. In Paris, I was pulled aside at the gate, and they went through my bags again, searched my shoes and clothing, and gave me tests for gunpowder residue. I was little worried as the alarms sounded during the first residue test and immediately several other agents came to stand by and glare at me menacingly – but they re-did it and the second time it was fine, so they finally allowed me to join Deb on the plane. The bigger problem was that because I had the SSSS, I did not get the TSA pre-check that my Global Entry allows. Since New York was my first point of entry back into the US, we had to pick up our luggage, drop it off at the Jet Blue counter to put it on the second plane, and go through security again. Deb breezed right through with her TSA pre-check, but the regular lines had over an hour wait so she sat and waited until I was done. Many people in line missed their flights, so make sure you have a long enough layover.
I really enjoyed Amsterdam, it was a beautiful little city with so much to do and I would highly recommend it to anyone wanting to travel to Europe. It was also very safe, and English was widely spoken so it would be a great first destination for solo traveler
