The train trip was around 6 hours, departing at 9:15am, and arriving at Munich at 3:03pm. However, I couldn't get to the apartment until after 5:30pm, as nobody would be home to let me in (one of the disadvantages of AirBnB - but they are few and far between, so I don't mind the occasional hiccup), so got the information that I need about things to do.
Between getting the tourist information, working out most of my forward-travel possibilities (at least to Amsterdam), getting totally confused by the U-bahn signage (not the best I've come across in Europe - in fact, probably the worst yet), and then sitting on a park bench for a while reading some of the tourist information, and trying to work out a bit of a plan of attack, I easily filled the time, arrived at the apartment at 5:30pm, and was promptly admitted. Then a bit of shopping for the next couple of days, and I am settled in.
Munich (German: München) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Bavaria. Located on the River Isar north of the Bavarian Alps, Munich is the third largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Hamburg with about 1.5 million people living within the city limits; Greater Munich including its suburbs has a population of 2.6 million. The Munich metropolitan region which extends to cities like Augsburg and Ingolstadt had a population of more than 5.6 million in 2008.
The city's native name, München, is derived from the combined Late Latin and Old High German term ad Munichen, meaning "by the monks(' place)". It derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who ran a monastery at the place that was later to become the Old Town of Munich; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat of arms. Munich was first mentioned in 1158; from 1255 the city was seat of the Bavarian Dukes. Black and gold — the colours of the Holy Roman Empire — have been the city's official colours since the time of Ludwig the Bavarian, when it was an imperial residence.
Although heavily damaged by allied bombing during World War II, many of the city's historic buildings have been rebuilt and the city centre appears mostly as it did in the late 1800s including its largest church, the Frauenkirche, and the famous city hall (Neues Rathaus).
With all of that ahead, and a few planned day-trips, it should be easy to fill 5 days here - that's right, 6 whole nights in the same bed! The apartment I'm staying in has the host on the top floor and I have the whole of the bottom floor to myself, so not only the bedroom, but a private bathroom, as well as a small but very functional kitchenette - everything I could need; this should be good.