BIO

Donna Fenice discovered Italy during a trip to Europe in her university days. She landed in France and loved it, and then ventured on to Italy, where she eventually spent several wonderful years exploring Tuscany and beyond from her home in Florence. On her return to Toronto, she taught Italian at York University for a few years. Until recently, when Covid changed everything, she returned as often as she could to Italy and France, and in the spring of 2019, for the first time, Spain with a special focus on visiting gardens. Nowadays she gets her gardening and travel fix by writing a blog called ‘Loving Italy’s Gardens’ (lovingitalysgardens.wordpress.com) and, most recently, by presenting - via Zoom - talks on the most beautiful public and private gardens she has visited in Italy and France, providing insights along the way into the historical forces behind their creation, as well as glimpses of the lives of the individuals who created them.