Madonna has spoken about her decision to move her family from America to Lisbon for the first time in a new World Exclusive interview for Vogue Italia.
The 59-year-old who posed for a series of shots for photographer Mert & Marcus said:
‘My son David, who is going to be 13 on September 24, has wanted to play soccer professionally for years.
‘I’ve been desperate to get him into the best academies with the best coaches, but the level of football in America is much lower than the rest of the world.
Talking about her decision to move to Lisbon, she said:
‘It was actually between three different cities that had soccer academies.’And I thought, let me see if I could live somewhere else for a year and put my four youngest kids in a different environment, as I think it’s also important to expose them to different cultures and living in different places.
‘So, it was between Turin, Barcelona, and Benfica in Lisbon. I went to all those places and tried to imagine myself living there. Of course, Barcelona is a super fun city, and I like Turin as well, but Turin is not really a city for children.
‘It’s a city for intellectuals; they have incredible museums and beautiful homes, but I didn’t think it would be fun for them. I have to take everyone into account, not just whether it will be a good academy for David.
‘So I went to Lisbon, and it seemed the best all-around choice. (…) [Portugal is] steeped in history, and the Portuguese empire has made its dent on the world.
‘The architecture is amazing. It’s also the birthplace of slavery, and so there are musical influences which come from Angola and Cape Verde, and also from Spain.
‘And then on top of all of that, one of my favourite things to do in the whole world is to ride horses. I live in Lisbon, in Lapa, but when I go horse-riding I go to Comporta, I go to friend’s houses, I go to Alcácer.
I always say three f’s rule Portugal: fado, football and Fatima. It’s also a very Catholic country, which suits me just fine.
Emeh Achanga,the CEO of the Miss Petite Nigeria Brand is a lawyer turned blogger. She is very passionate about writing, with several publications and awards to her credit .She is currently working on publishing a collection of short stories which are basically a memoir about her exciting true experiences.
