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Leeds: 9 tips by a (former) local
Leeds. Live it. Love it. This was the slogan of the city of Leeds when I moved there in 2011. I lived in this West Yorkshire city for 6 years. And, boy, I did love it. Leeds, the largest city in Yorkshire, reminds me of my hometown, Thessaloniki, the second-largest city in Greece. In terms of population, they’re both medium-sized cities (the city of Leeds has almost 800,000 inhabitants, whereas the population of the wider metropolitan area exceeds two million). Like Thessaloniki, Leeds has several universities that attract tens of thousands of students each year. Like many other medium-sized cities, it has a fairly compact center that can be walked…
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Take me to Church (or a chapel)
Two weeks ago, the Netherlands won this year’s Eurovision Song Contest with the song ‘Arcade’, performed by Duncan Laurence. This was arguably the best song in the competition, yet the highlight of the final was Madonna’s somewhat pitchy but poignant performance of her classic ‘Like a Prayer’. Released 30 years ago, it remains an iconic song. Sometimes I wonder how it’d feel if Madonna performed ’Like a Prayer’ in a church. Although (or perhaps because) I am not a religious person, I enjoy going to a church not for religious purposes but for cultural ones. I particularly enjoy listening to music (from classical to country, and from jazz to…