Colorful Albania

One of the first things you’ll notice in Albania — apart from the mountains, beaches, and excellent tomatoes — is that the buildings are really, really colorful. Like someone gave an entire city to an art teacher and said, “Go wild.” This rainbow of architecture is actually a clever way of saying goodbye to the grey, boxy days of communism, and hello to freedom, expression, and maybe just a slight overuse of orange.

There are also murals everywhere, like giant outdoor art galleries you didn’t ask for but are very glad to have. You’ll find everything from portraits of poets to flamingos in sunglasses, no one really knows why, but it works.

And if you spot a few unfinished houses, don’t worry, they’re not abandoned, they’re just on pause. Most were started by families who moved abroad, planning to come back one day and finish the top floor, maybe with a rooftop terrace and a satellite dish. It’s kind of Albania’s way of saying, “We’re not done yet, but we’re getting there.”

So the skyline is always changing, full of color, character, and concrete dreams still under construction. And that’s what makes Albania so brilliantly, unreasonably charming.