For most of its life the north bank of the IJ was the back of Amsterdam — industry, a Shell lab, the side you didn't visit. The pont (the free IJ ferry) changed that in three minutes flat, and now Overhoeks has the one thing the postcard side never could: a view of the postcard side.
Take the F3 from behind Centraal at dusk. The crossing is short enough that the skyline lights come on while you're still on the water. Off at Buiksloterweg, the Eye film museum is right there — a white wedge tipped over the IJ, worth circling even if you skip the cinema. Next to it the A'DAM Tower runs straight up; behind it, the Tolhuistuin keeps a garden and a summer stage in the old Shell canteen's yard.
Then walk east along the IJ-bank promenade with the city on your right the whole way — the stretch nobody photographed, because nobody used to stand here. Follow it as it bends inland toward the Noordhollandsch Kanaal and into the Noorderpark. The M52 takes you back under the water in four minutes, the way you should have been able to come all along.
