Schumann's Kinderszenen

Not sure if I should put this in Repertoire or here, but I think here will do.

I've mentioned somewhere before that I've gone back to my classical roots after playing jazz/blues/rock for the last ten years or so. Interestingly enough, I've never played from Kinderszenen before, so I have plenty of questions. Let's just start with the first song, Of Foreign Lands and People (Von Fremden Landern...)

First, my sheet music has a tempo marking of M.M. quarter = 108. This seems wayyyyy too fast for me. Unfortunately, I don't have a recording to compare to (recommendations are welcome), but my musical Spidey sense tells me a tempo closer to 80 or even 50 or 60 seems about right. At least that's how I hear the music in my head.

Second, I know Schumann is funny about his pedal markings. Each song I have in Kinderszenen has the word "Pedal" written below the staves in the first bar. Now, Von Fremden Landern has two pedal markings after that. One at the end of the A section. One at the last bar of the B section. The second piece, Curious Story, has Pedal written, but no other markings anywhere. How is Schumann expecting us to play these? With the first song, it seems pedalling throughout sounds fine. (Obviously, lifting on chord changes and the such.) But it also sounds fine without the pedal except where expressly indicated. With the second song, I'm not sure. This one doesn't seem to need the pedal. Does it?

Interpretively, what would you suggest for Von Fremden Landern? It's a beautiful song, one that really requires great musical understanding to pull it off successfully, despite it's apparent simplicity. Other than what seems to be obvious to me (bring out the melody in the right hand in the first part, in the left hand in the second part; be gentle on the triplets, etc.) what can I do? I tend to emphasize the second melody note (on the diminished chord) slightly and play rubato at the end of each phrase (slowing down slightly before starting the next phrase.) I also tend to slightly crescendo at the middle of phrases and get soft, ie feminine endings, at the end of phrases?
Does this sound about right to y'all?

Any tips are appreciated, as I've never had a teacher explain this piece to me.