Slow down alongside the Kleine Gartmanplantsoen park just near Leidseplein to spot 40 lizards nestled in the grass and sunning themselves on the brickwork. Cast in bronze, the surreal life-size reptiles, created by Dutch artist Hans van Houwelingen in 1994, are collectively known as Blauw Jan. The title comes from an old Amsterdam inn of the same name which, in the 17th and 18th centuries, had a menagerie of exotic animals brought to the port city from faraway lands.
