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.
Stately Stockholm is the capital of Sweden and its most populous city. The city is spread across fourteen islands in southeast Sweden, adjacent to the Baltic Sea. There has been settlement in the area since at least the Stone Age. Thirty kilometres west of the city is the Viking-age trading centre of Birka, which was… 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 »
Copenhagen, Denmark’s capital, is a bewitchingly beautiful city. It is located on several islands in the east of Denmark, and faces Malmö, Sweden, across the Øresund strait. Originally an 11th-century Viking village, Copenhagen later served as the seat of government for the 15th and 16th century-era Nordic union of Norway, Denmark, and Sweden. In addition… Read more »
Roskilde, Denmark’s 10th-largest city, is about 30 kilometres west of the Danish capital city of Copenhagen. One of Denmark’s oldest cities, Roskilde was once the capital of Denmark and still retains close ties to the Danish monarchy. Since 1971 the city has hosted the annual Roskilde Festival, one of the largest music festivals in Europe…. Read more »
Oslo, the capital city of Norway, sits at the north end of the fjord bearing its name. The city is in eastern Norway, about 100 kilometres from the border with Sweden. Oslo was founded as a trading post around a thousand years ago during the Viking age. At one time known as Christiana, to honour… Read more »
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 »
To launch this series, in which I’ll try to give a flavour of various cities I’ve visited using only six photos each, I’m starting with one of my favourite cities: Angra do Heroismo (“Angra” for short.) If you’ve never heard of Angra, you’re not alone. Angra sits on the island of Terceira, in the nine-island… Read more »
Lay down and go to sleep! A phrase we may have heard when we were children, or said it ourselves to our own restless toddlers. “Lay down and go to sleep!” But wait, is that right? Or is it “Lie down and go to sleep”? I flatter myself that I have a good grasp of… Read more »
Each year, part of Christmas gift-giving ends up in the garbage. Despite our valiant efforts to live greener lives by reducing waste, paper gift wrap continues to be a significant feature of gift-giving. With a bit of imagination this year, though, you can break the paper-wrap habit and have some creative fun at the same… Read more »
This week I marked my tenth anniversary as a contributing writer for The Voice. When I submitted my first article back in November 2013, I had little idea that one piece of writing would lead to hundreds of published articles. My first article, Essay Avoidance – The Fine Art of Procrastination, described all the dilly-dallying… Read more »