Barbara Lehtiniemi is a writer and photographer from Ontario. She’s a graduate of Athabasca University, having completed her Bachelor of General Studies degree in 2018.
A regular contributor to The Voice Magazine for over ten years, Barbara has also contributed to other publications including Chicken Soup for the Soul and Maclean’s. Barbara writes in several genres, including non-fiction, fiction, and poetry. She’s eternally grateful to The Voice Magazine for providing the opportunity to explore an array of topics and writing styles.
Barbara has a fondness for travel, used bookstores, everyday absurdities, and oversized wine glasses. Originally from urban Southwestern Ontario, she now lives on a windswept rural road in Eastern Ontario.
Bergen is on Norway’s southwestern coast, sheltered by islands and mountains. It is Norway’s second-largest city, after the capital of Oslo. Bergen’s stunning scenic setting is only eclipsed by its captivating history. We were cautioned that it often rains in Bergen, but we enjoyed sunny weather during our visit in August 2012. The Rosenkrantz Tower. … Read more »
Eclipse, part one. Like many others in Ontario who live in or near the “path of totality” for the April 8 solar eclipse, we made plans to view the event. We live about 15 kilometres away from the northern limit of totality as it crosses eastern Ontario. Why not make the short drive to experience… Read more »
Among taxi rides, the one to the airport is often The Worst. You’re stuck in the back seat of a speeding cab, hands groping fruitlessly for your seatbelt (which is inevitably non-functional.) The car careens wildly through some busy metropolitan area. The driver seems intent on beating his best time. By the time you reach… Read more »
Horta is a city of about 7000 on the island of Faial in the Azores. The Azores, a nine-island autonomous region of Portugal, lie about 1600 kilometres west of mainland Portugal. Although the executive capital of the Azores is Ponta Delgada on the island of São Miguel, the Legislative Assembly of the Azores is located… Read more »
Bruges is a beautiful and well-preserved city of about 120,000 in the northwest of Belgium. There were settlements in the area during the Bronze and Iron Ages, and a fort was built on the site in the 9th century. Its proximity to the coast made the city an important and prosperous centre of trade. The… Read more »
Ghent is in the Flemish (primarily Dutch-speaking) region of Belgium, and is that country’s third-largest city. Human settlement in the area goes back to at least the Stone Age, and a permanent settlement was established by the 7th century. By the Late Middle Ages, Ghent was prospering due to the wool trade and was the… Read more »
Luxembourg is the capital city of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, a small country wedged between Belgium, France, and Germany. The city is in the south of the country, at the confluence of the Alzette and Pétrusse rivers. Luxembourg’s site on a plateau has given it strategic importance since Roman times. The city has, at… Read more »
Strasbourg is a city in the Alsace region of eastern France, about 400 kilometres east of Paris. The Ill River, a tributary of the Rhine, runs through the centre of Strasbourg, and the Rhine itself forms the eastern boundary of the city (with the German city of Kehl across the river.) The city’s first historical… Read more »
As we strolled through the streets of Basel, Switzerland, in 2019 our eyes were often drawn to views of the river. The Rhine flows through the centre of Basel, on its winding way from the Alps to the North Sea. It’s a busy river, with a constant traffic of barges, ferries, pleasure craft, and the… Read more »
Basel is in northwest Switzerland, tucked up against the borders of both France and Germany, and bisected by the Rhine River. Settlement in the area dates back to at least the 5th-century BC, and the Romans built a village nearby in the 2nd century BC. With its abundance of museums, including the first public art… Read more »