A few thoughts on Albania in general, before everything gets completely jumbled in my head.

Nature — amazing, history — really fascinating, though often tough for the locals. Everything's developing fast now, the country clearly has money and investors. Budgets aren't always spent wisely, but except for a couple of things, I liked everything I saw. The guys are aiming for European integration and EU membership. They're putting a lot of hopes in that.

Wasteful spending — that's building a billion skyscrapers right in the center of the capital, blocking historical buildings. I chalked this up to something tied to local culture. The density of Mercedes per square centimeter in Albania can only be compared to Azerbaijan. When people get a penny, they gotta buy a German automaker's masterpiece. But unlike our eastern neighbor, there are plenty of newer models here too. In a country where 30 years ago almost nobody had cars, this kind of thing still plays an important status role. Apparently it's the same with high-rises.

Unfortunately, I didn't get to talk much with locals, but I wish I had. Their traditions and customs, judging by the internet, are more than curious. Take the non-religious code of laws Kanun and the blood feud described in it, which, by the way, they still practice. Not as widespread now, but it happens. And the practice is way harsher than what I've read about other peoples, and the feud can last for generations.

Their self-name is cool: Shqipëria (land of eagles), and Albanians are Shqiptare (children of eagles). The language itself is curious. Doesn't really sound like anything else. You catch Slavic-Italian notes here and there, but that's about it. They also like doubling R in unexpected places. For example, rruga means street. Who even doubles R at the start of a word? Seriously, learning "thank you" took effort: faleminderit didn't stick on the first try.

Don't believe me — listen to a couple of songs. Like Xheloz or Kenge moj. There's also an animated history, but watch it out of academic interest, not for the music (there are explanations with timestamps in one of the top comments).

For full immersion, read Ismail Kadare. Just finished "The General of the Dead Army." Highly recommend.

There are plenty of scary stories about the Albanian mafia, but it felt more than safe. Even in the most out-of-the-way places I happened to wander into. They say tourists don't interest them — they make money differently.

A week was enough for roughly half of what would be good to see. If you end up going, take a longer vacation. I might visit again sometime since I live close by anyway.

The one thing that didn't impress me the whole trip — the food. And it was often way too salty. Even after Serbia, where they already use a lot more salt than you'd want.

PS. Bonus video from Berat.