Meet the twins
It's an odd idea, twinning towns; two places in completely different parts of the world with no apparent relation to one another are linked, supposedly with the goal of fostering better international relations and cultural understanding. Ok, but is the process of choosing a twin completely arbitrary, as it seems to be? Leeds, for instance, has a whopping eight twins (actually that would make the lot nonuplets then, wouldn't it?).
But does Leeds have anything in common with its international siblings, or is it the black sheep of the family? Itchy set out to do a little internet-based research on a few of these foreign relatives.
Colombo, Sri Lanka: Used to be part of the British Empire, and until Yorkshire becomes the republic it so richly deserves to be, Leeds still is.
Lille, France: Trains. Leeds had the first steam locomotive in the world, Lille had the first automatic metro line in the world.
Siegen, Germany: It has a Beatles museum, which at least connects it back to England.
Hangzhou, China: Tea. Both the British and Chinese are crazy about the stuff. We're reaching here, ok?
Louisville, Kentucky, United States: Fried food. The world's largest fish and chip shop, Harry Ramsdens, is located near Leeds, and of course Louisville is the birthplace of the Colonel's famous fried chicken.
Oh, in case you were wondering, Leeds' other twins are Dortmund, Germany and Durban, South Africa, which we were too lazy to look up facts for, and Brno, Czech Republic, which we can't pronounce anyway.
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