Today we didn’t have anything booked, so we started the day slowly with a cup of tea at a the Hundertwasser Cafe. The Cafe, and many of the surrounding buildings, was designed by Friedrich Hundertwasser, who rejected straight lines and advocated for people to be able to alter the space outside their window as far as their arm could reach. The buildings have a very unique design to them, and even the ground between the buildings is uneven by design.

Next we wandered through the Hundertwasser village that is right next to the cafe. It’s mostly tourist shops, but there is also some art on display here. After a little shopping and art viewing, we went back to the hostel. Shae was not sure if she was coming down with something or not (turns out she wasn’t really), but out of an abundance of caution she decided to take the afternoon to rest. So I took myself down to the Belvedere palace to have a look at the gardens. Again, the gardens of this palace are huge. The gardens immediately surrounding the palace are manageable, mostly a big water feature and a well manicured lawn.

The botanical gardens are a different story. It’s October, so there isn’t much in bloom even here, but that didn’t stop it from being a beautiful place for a walk. I walked around for probably 2 hours. There was a bamboo forest, lost of local and imported plants (or plant beds), lots of different kinds of trees, some greenhouses with more tropical plants, cases with succulents and cacti, and an “alpine section” that even had some plants from north America. Around the back of the palace was even more garden, again mostly water features and walking paths.

After a quick ice cream break, I went inside the palace. The inside is actually an art museum now, though there are signs that explain what the rooms were used for originally. One of the more notable pieces in the collection is “The Kiss” by Klimt. Unfortunately, I couldn’t stay long because the museum was closing soon after I went in.

For a day with not strict plan, I sure did a lot of walking. A new record of over 27,000 steps! Tomorrow, Salzburg!