I was on a 4-day trip to Albania this weekend and got back yesterday evening. I went with my mom and a friend of hers to a conference in Tirana, the capitol of the country. It was a great an inspiring time, one I didn’t see coming at all at the beginning of the year. Sometimes things happen that you didn’t expect, and occasionally those things are unexpectedly good :)

We were mainly there to help out at the conference, but we got to see the beach, the National Art Gallery of Albania, and some of Tirana’s landmarks. I hope I can come back to Albania some day :)

one of many communist monuments

at the beach in Durris

these were all over the beach. I assume they are rolled up fibers from the palm trees, but I’ve never seen anything like them before!

houses in Tirana are often painted in all sorts of colors and patterns. The mayor studied art before taking office and encourages people to renovate their run-down buildings by painting them. This makes Tirana one of the most colorful places in Europe

despit many renovations and new constructions, Albania still has plenty of unfinished, abandoned buildings

this pyramid is a famous communist monument, visited by many, but equally hated. It is in very poor shape, and its future is uncertain

art installation in front of the national gallery

Tirana, Albania