It's a Schmahl World

Update from Liberia: Happy Holidays!

It’s been a month and a half since my last post from Liberia so it’s time for an update! Here’s what’s been going on this holiday season… In Liberia, they have Thanksgiving but they celebrate it the first week of November instead of the last week. Here though, the holiday has nothing to do with…

5 Charming Airbnbs in Iceland

For our 8 day trip around Iceland’s Ring Road we spent 5 of our nights in Airbnbs. Airbnbs were a great option for us since there weren’t a lot of hotels/guesthouses for us to choose from along our route. Sorted by city, below are the fantastic Airbnbs we stayed in! Vik – For our first night…

Our 4 Day Ireland Itinerary

For our short time in Ireland, we decided to take a tour by Brendan Vacations (the Irish Jaunt) rather than plan our own vacation itinerary. While we love the freedom to do anything we chose with a do-it-yourself vacation and the lower price tag that usually comes with it, the ease that came with our Brendan Vacation…

Kiss the Blarney Stone: Cork, Ireland

On our quick trip to Ireland a couple summers ago, we stopped in Cork to visit Blarney Castle, home of the Blarney Stone! The Blarney Stone is also known as the Stone of Eloquence and rumor has it, anyone who kisses the stone will never again be at a loss for words and will have an exceptional gift…

One week in Tuscany: Our 7 Day Italy Itinerary

This past summer we had the chance to spend a full week in Tuscany, Italy. With our home base in Montecatini we visited new cities each day. Below is a snapshot of each of our days, to read more about any of the places, click on their names in the headers! Day 1: Milan We…

An Evening in San Gimignano, Italy

After spending the afternoon in Siena, we made our way to San Gimignano for the evening. San Gimingnano was founded in ancient times, legend leads us to believe as early as 63 B.C. Like Siena, San Gimignano is a walled city with paid parking lots just outside the city. There are signs for the four…

Teaching in Liberia

As an education volunteer, my main assignment in the Peace Corps is teaching at the local high school. I’m teaching math to the 10th and 11th graders. It’s hard to believe but I’m already more than 2 months into the school year! It’s my first year teaching and my first observation: teaching is hard work!…

A Day Trip to Cinque Terre, Italy by Car

For our last full day in Italy we needed to get from Montecatini to Milan to be ready to fly out the next morning. Adding a slight detour, we decided to stop in Cinque Terre along the way! Cinque Terre in Italian translates to “Five Lands”, aptly named because it is comprised of five coastal…

Tivoli Revisted: Halloween Edition

In honor of Halloween today, it is only fitting that we post about my recent trip to Tivoli! A few years ago on a family vacation we took a cruise around the Baltics with a stop in Copenhagen, Denmark. Even though we only had one day, we knew a stop at Tivoli, the most visited…

An Afternoon in Siena, Italy

After our first leisurely morning of the trip in Montecatini, we only had half the day to spend visiting Siena. After an hour and a half drive we arrived in Siena and found a parking garage just out side the city. The entire city is on a hill with the main tourist attractions at the…