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 since 2013, 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 grateful to The Voice Magazine for providing the opportunity to explore an array of topics and writing styles, and she remains dreadfully sorry for those awful haikus.
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 with her indulgent and supportive husband, Leo.
You can follow Barbara on Twitter @theregoesbarb, or contact her at theregoesbarb@gmail.com.
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 »
Freiburg im Breisgau is a city of about 236,000 in southwestern Germany. Known simply as Freiburg, the city was founded in 1120 as a free market town. Its location on the Rhine plain and its proximity to established trade routes ensured its success as a trade centre. The University of Freiburg was founded in 1457… Read more »
This week, we resume our tour of selected European cities. Konstanz (often called “Constance” in English) sits at the western end of Lake Constance in south Germany. The Swiss border passes just to the south of the city, which encompasses both banks of the Rhine River. Settlement in the area goes back to at least… Read more »
Cambridge is a city of around 140,000 in southwestern Ontario. The city was formed in 1973 by the amalgamation of the city of Galt, the towns of Preston and Hespeler, and a few surrounding villages. The three main founding communities grew to prominence in the 1800s as mill and manufacturing towns, centred along the Grand… Read more »
Ottawa, the capital city of Canada, hugs the south shore of the Ottawa River in southeastern Ontario. Originally the site of an Algonquin settlement, the city was first known as Bytown when it was founded in 1826. The name was changed to Ottawa in 1855, and the city was selected as Canada’s capital city (beating… Read more »
Toronto is the capital of the province of Ontario, and it is Canada’s most populous city (and North America’s fourth-most populous, after Mexico City, New York City, and Los Angeles.) The city hugs the western end of Lake Ontario. The area was frequently used by Indigenous peoples and, in a controversial purchase by the British,… Read more »
Iqaluit is Canada’s northernmost city, and is the capital of Nunavut. The city, originally named Frobisher Bay, sits at the head of Frobisher Bay. Iqaluit, which means ” place of many fish” is a traditional fishing area for the Inuit. The United States build the Frobisher Bay Air Base in 1942, and its airstrip is… Read more »