Nance in Amsterdam day 1-3

We had a pretty good flight over and arrived a few minutes early at Schipol. Straight forward route through the airport but a long walk. I found an ing atm and grabbed some euros and then we were off to the red/white checkered meeting point to meet our taxi. And we waited.... And no one showed. I pulled my phone to call them and had no service.... Dang you Verizon, what gives??? We also were to call landlord.... We waited a little longer and hubby spotted the Tinker taxi hostess dressed in violet-thank goodness! Somehow they did not have my flight number? She carried my backpack and walked us to our taxi. The driver graciously called my landlord, saying, "I have your Ms. Nancy and I bring her to you!" We arrived at the end of our street to find it blocked while workers reset the brick road. The driver walked us to our door and rang, never leaving us until he knew we were let in-quite comforting!
My first impressions of the city: a LOT of people here smoke! Former smoker and hubby smokes so doesn't bother me. The traffic is crazy wild with scooters, bikes, trams, pedestrians, motorcycles all zipping through intersections. Wonderful to just sit at a big intersection and watch. They definitely have a method to this entertaining madness- well, except for this one cyclist and motorbike... Saw a big wreck first night here. I'm a small town girl and the big city is noisy but not intrusive.
So far.... Day 1: Own walking tour while maid readied apt., check in, more wandering, savory pancake for dinner, a short stop at Gray Area, followed by a trip to grocery.
Day 2: Got phone working. Verizon only told me to restart phone. Did not know to set phone to global use with roaming on. Coffee and cupcake for breakfast at Sarah's on Raadhuistraat, walking tour with ThatDamGuide, apple pie piled high with whipped cream at Winkel's, shopping at Saturday market in Noordermarkt where we bought fresh salami, roast beef, cheeses, spicy olives, and scones. The meats especially are fabulous! More walking along our canal- Herengracht.
Day 3: Walked from one end of Herengracht to the other to Willet- Holthuysen and bought our museumkaarts. Toured the house and then walked to and toured Hermitage Amsterdam, Rembrandthuis, nice lunch at Orff across the street (we were served iced tea made with sparkling water - quite good!) and then on to Verzetsmuseum. Walked back home after a short instance of being lost. Feet tired so we made a nice cold plate of meats, cheese, and fruit for supper. Waiting to rent bikes in Haarlem as I'm not ready to die yet.