I couldn't fit everything into one post! Here is part 2 of Munich.
I almost didn't see any fabric stores in Munich, but on Friday I had a free afternoon. Originally I was going to visit one of the two local palaces, but instead I decided to visit some of the shops. I'll just have to return to Munich to see some of its other attractions.
I visited three fabric stores. I'll be honest, for garment sewers, Munich offers slim pickings.
Stoffe & Co
Stoffe & Co carries quilting cottons, fleece and other fabrics for children's wear. They do not carry wool or wool trims, at least not currently.
Das Blaue Tuch
This store, far from the center of town, required a fairly lengthy ride on public transit. It would have been shorter, but part of the subway system is down for renovations, so I had to take a surface bus. The store is rather confusing in that it features two names: "Das Blaue Tuch" and "Stoffe and Schnitte". The sales woman, who was very friendly, indicated that one name refers to the fabrics and the other name refers to the purses.
Aside from the beautiful purses, this store carries mostly fabrics made from natural fibers. They have quilting cottons, some wools, linens, silks. I saw one wool that was quite lovely but, at 134 Euros a meter, I left it behind.
To save time, I took Uber from this store back to Marienplatz. The ride cost about 10 Euros.
Radspieler
Radspieler, a home dec and clothing store, carries fabrics in the back of the store. It is right in the Marienplatz, making it centrally located.
They mostly carry home dec fabrics and they have fair sized selection. They carry Marrimeko and, most impressively, some lovely boiled wools. Their wool selection was quite small (only a few colors) but their price, at 39 Euros per meter, was reasonable.
Seconds after I first walked into Ludwig Beck, my eyes about popped out of my head.
I saw one of their displays and was smitten!
I asked and was informed that these pieces weren't for sale—they were made by the display department from felted wool roving. These garments were on display on most every floor of the main store, in the yarn store, and in some of their windows.
Aren't they fabulous?
On Sunday afternoon I wandered over to the Hirschgarten, which is only a tram stop or two from my hotel, Citadines. This beautiful park is a very popular place for locals to hang out on a quiet Sunday.
Perhaps I shouldn't blog about two gardens, back-to-back, but on Sundays most everything (shops, grocery stores, restaurants) is closed by law in Munich. This is the day that everyone goes to the park, takes walks, or visits museums. I mostly walked, rode the underground, and visited parks.
I left the hotel at 7am on Sunday, taking the subway to Marienplatz. From there, I walked to the Englischer Garten (English Garden). I got lost and, except for the fact that it was below zero, I had no gloves, and there weren't any coffee shops open, it was wonderful!
A very unusual feature of the English Garden is that, along the southern edge of the garden, you can find river surfers! Yes, RIVER SURFERS! What a hoot!
I made a video of the surfers:
After watching the surfers for a bit, I entered the park proper. It's huge and features miles of walkways with scenic views. Is it weird that I kept imagining Die Zauberflöte (aka The Magic Flute), my favorite opera?
On Friday morning we had a team outing to the Deutsches Museum, a massive museum of technology and science. I thought that it might be similar to the Exploratorium in San Francisco, but it's quite different. We were split into 3 groups and each group had a different guide for a 2-hour tour. Our guide, a physicist, barely scratched the surface of this huge museum. My group saw tools, watches/clocks, musical instruments, glass, and computers, to name a few sections. We did not see aircraft or ships (though we walked past them), or the below-ground mining area, which sounded amazing.
We saw the lightning/electricity demonstration, which was most impressive.
The following video (not mine) shows a bit of the lightning demonstration.
This museum would be a great spot for a Steampunk Halloween party!
I recorded the tune that they played for us:
After our tour, many of us had lunch in the museum's cafe (cash only). After that, some visited the gift shop, or went back to see more of the museum, or left to see other sites, such as the nearby palace, or headed for the airport. I visited the gift shop, then left for the fabric stores, and another visit to Ludwig Beck.
How can I document a visit to Munich without mentioning the Google office?
Over a year ago the Munich office moved from the Marienplatz to it's current location, a few subway stops away. The powers that be chose the Munich office to host Dart Summit 2016. (The last summit was held in San Francisco, a hardship for our European developers, so we mixed it up a bit.)
My event, if you can call it "my event", was a code lab held on Tuesday night, before the summit started. I wrote two of the three code labs featured that evening, though I finished one several months ago, and the other one on the day of the event. Things were changing right up to the last minute—it "landed hot", as they say.
It keeps things exciting.
Coding, food, beer, and socializing with other developers. It was a festive evening.
Other random office pics:
Handy for those with larger hands!
So, that's it for Munich! I've been in Paris for one full day now and it's lovely here! Margy and I have been exploring the city on our own. We meet up with the Tiltons in a few days!
As a farewell, just one last pic from Munich!
