It's a Schmahl World

A Day Tour Around the Tuscan Countryside

Instead of trying to drive around the Tuscan countryside on our own, we opted to join an all day tour through Discover Tuscany. The tour picked us up in Montecatini, where we were staying, and we joined up with other picked up in Florence and Siena before making our way to our first stop the…

Visiting a Tuscan Vineyard

Instead of trying to drive around the Tuscan countryside on our own, we opted to join an all day tour through Discover Tuscany. The tour picked us up in Montecatini, where we were staying, and we joined up with others picked up in Florence and Siena before making our way to our first stop, the vineyard Abbadia Ardenga just…

10 Fun Facts about the Florence Cathedral

Our week-long trip around Tuscany would not be complete without a visit to Florence, the capital of the region. The Florence Cathedral, or the Duomo, is hard to miss as its dome towers over the city’s skyline. We learned a lot as we explored the city, but most of what I learned about Florence came…

One Day in Florence, Italy

On our week long trip in Tuscany, we could only devote one day to the city of Florence. I wish we could have spent more time in Florence, but with only one day here’s what we were able to fit in. We boarded the 8:00 train from our home base in Montecatini to arrive in…

Peace Corps Swearing In Ceremony & First Days at Site

It’s been over a month since I last posted from Liberia! Here’s what’s been going on… Early in the morning on August 18th, we boarded a bus to head into Monrovia to go to our swearing in ceremony, held at the city hall. After 11 weeks of training, we were finally becoming official Peace Corps volunteers!…

A Bike Ride around Lucca, Italy

After our morning in Pisa, we headed to the walled city of Lucca for lunch and to explore. Located between Pisa and Montecatini, Lucca was a perfect stop to break up the hour drive. We easily found paid parking just outside the walled city. We first stopped for lunch and wine at a restaurant we…

Traveling Misadventures: Racing Through the Airport

We absolutely love traveling but sometimes things just don’t go as planned. One of our traveling misadventures happened when flying to Hartford, Connecticut for our cousin’s wedding. Kim left from Columbus and I left from Indianapolis to get on the same connecting flight in Charlotte, North Carolina. We both made it through security just fine…

A Morning in Pisa, Italy

Driving from Montecatini, we arrived in Pisa around 8 am, parking near the Piazza dei Miracoli, or Square of Miracles, in a fairly empty paid parking lot. We ordered tickets to all the attractions we wanted to see ahead of time and had an 8:45am time slot to climb the Leaning Tower of Pisa. After…

An Evening Visit to Montecatini Alto

Throughout our week in Tuscany, the city of Montecatini served as our home base. After our drive from Milan, we dropped off our bags at our hotel in Montecatini Terme located in the valley of Montecatini and headed out to explore. Just down the street we found the Funicolare to take us up to the…

One day in Milan, Italy

After our overnight flight, we arrived not particularly well rested at the Milan Malpensa Airport around 9 am. Running on solely adrenaline, we caught the first train into Milan! Our first stop of the day was at the medieval Sforzesco Castle. Built in 1360s, the castle changed hands many times throughout its long history being…