Fun aside, I know the country quite a bit and I have one of the most reliable and trustworthy guides on my side already - a grateful graduate student. I'll send my check-in luggage by a transport company in advance to the airport to avoid any hassle when taking the high speed train from Amsterdam to Munich airport on Sunday.

Good thinking. Humping luggage on trains is no fun. Negotiating British Rail and the tube system to get to, say, Gatwick would take it out of a twenty year old.