To be honest, getting myself to come to Italy was rough. At first I was excited. So excited. Then suddenly it was a week until take off and I was in denial. I was anxious, irritable, nervous and all around unhappy. Selfish right? Well, I knew there really wasn’t a way around it, so on the plane I went. I am now 3 full days in and it’s really feeling worth it. So worth it. Montepulciano kind of felt that way too. Wine tasting? Sure thing! And then the time came and we started to walk. Or climb I should say. As much as I love walking this was all uphill, ongoing, I didn’t know when it was going to end, I was still motion sick from the bus and I was exhausted from traveling and jet lag. Yet again though there wasn’t really a choice, so up the hill I went. Finally we got to there. And holy smokes the view. It looked fake it was so stunning. Almost like a painting, like I could reach out and touch all the toy pieces. I truly have never once in my life seen anything like that. Real people live out there! I couldn’t wrap my head around it. And during all that serenity, I had totally forgotten about the hike it took to get there because I didn’t care. It was worth it. This simple experience climbing up an actual hill taught me a lot. It taught me that I need to push myself and that I can do more than I think I can. Life’s a climb, but the view is great.