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Introducing Mystery Class #5
Ljubljana, Slovenia
46.05527 N, 14.50417 E

Postcard view of city

CC BY-SA 3.0 /Shermozle
"Dobrodošli v Ljubljani!"
That's Slovenian for "Welcome to Ljubljana", the vibrant capital city of Slovenia,  that's both a modern center of  cultural, educational, economic, and political activity, and a historic center of  international trade for centuries!
 
You've Discovered the "Tube of Smarties" from Slovenia!
As you can see, we're a small group of eager students. Why are we called the "Tube of Smarties"? Our teacher, Mr. Sellers, says we're a "small-and-smart" class, like the small, disc-shaped candies called "Smarties". They are neatly stacked and tightly wrapped into a tube-shaped package -- so we are the "Tube" of "Smarties."

Students
Photo: QSI Ljubljana

 
Our School Building -- QSI
We are lucky to attend the QSI School in the city of Ljubljana, Slovenia. Here is a photo of our school building, and you can see the glass foyer which brings the beauty of our surroundings into the school. The QSI family of schools is a group of private international schools located all around the world. In fact, there are 37 QSI schools in 27 countries.
School building
Photo: QSI Ljubljana
 

Our QSI School Family
We're a small school, and so the students, parents, and teachers feel like a special family. Our school is a magical place, like Hogwarts in the "Harry Potter" series. We have about 143 students, and this photo shows many students, parents and teachers at an outdoor school gathering. Our building and grounds are located in park-like surroundings with sports fields, indoor tennis facilities and forested areas. The glass-walled part of the building in this photo is our art room, where we feel as though we are working outdoors. The classrooms, library, and both computer labs here are networked with the latest technology. Also, we're connected to a 1000 sq meter sports hall, fitness gym, and lounge area.

School gathering
Photo: QSI Ljubljana

 
Playing the Global Game--Just Like You!
Even though we were a secret Mystery Class this year, we were also participating in the global game like you, looking for the other nine secret locations (and using a globe, of course!)

Students working together in class
Photo: QSI Ljubljana
 

Favorite Class Activities
One of our favorite activities in school is art class. On this day, we created a spider-web image with spiders around the outer edges.
Students working together in class
Photo: QSI Ljubljana
 
More Favorites
Another favorite school activity is learning about wildlife species and their habitats. In this photo, we're quizzing ourselves with animal and habitat match cards from a quick game.

Students working together in class
Photo: QSI Ljubljana
 
Look Closely
Can you see what we're doing in this photo? We are learning "hands-on equations" to build our math skills even more -- in a fun way too. Our teachers have helped us to build pretty strong algebra skills already, but in this photo a visiting teacher/director really "wowed" us with his "hands-on equations!"

Students and teacher in class
Photo: QSI Ljubljana
 
Our Teacher
The great leader of the Tube of Smarties . . . our teacher Mr. Sellers!

Our teacher
Photo: QSI Ljubljana
 

Local Treat!
Hungry? Here in Ljubljana, there is a local traditional treat that we all love to eat. It's named "POTICA", which is pronounced "Po-TEE-tsa." It is a traditional bread or cake from Slovenia, usually made with layers of sweet, nutty filling, but sometimes it's made with a savory fillings too, like tarragon or pork cracklings, or. . . . It's a real popular treat at Christmas and especially Easter. Mmmmmm. If you want to bake it, here's a recipe.

Potica cake

CC BY-NC 2.0 /InYourPocketSlovenia
 
The Dragon City: Ljubljana
We are lucky to live in the beautiful city of Ljubljana, the capital and largest city of Slovenia. Ljubljana is a very historic place, and one of the famous symbols of the city is the Dragon, which symbolizes power, courage and greatness. The dragon statue in this photo is found on a famous bridge here, known as The Dragon Bridge (of course). It crosses the Ljubljana River and was built in the early 20th century. The Dragon symbol is also on the flag of the city, perched upon the tower of Ljubljana Castle.

Statue
CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 / Terence Faircloth
 

European Green Capital City 2016 -- plus Alps, the Karst and Rivers!
For all its history, Ljubljana is also a vibrant modern city too. This year it was named the European Green Capital 2016 by the European Commission, signifying that our city has made the highest number of changes with regard to quality of life in the shortest time. Ljubljana is located in Central Slovenia, between the Alps and the Karst.

You can see the Alps, but you can't really see a Karst unless you go underground. Why? Because a Karst landscape has lots of underground drainage systems like sinkholes and caves, which are formed from the dissolving of soluble rocks like limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. One other beautiful feature of Ljubljana is the rivers that pass in or near the city. This photo shows one of the beautiful city locations along the rivers.

Bridge and canal
CC BY 2.0 / Gilad Rom
 

Our Country -- Slovenia
Located in south central Europe, between Austria, Hungary, Croatia, and Italy, Slovenia's territory is mostly mountainous, as you can see in this photo of Lake Bled. At the same time, Slovenia is one of the most water-rich places in Europe, with a dense river network, a rich aquifer system, and significant karst underground watercourses. Over half of the territory is covered by forest.

Mountains

CC BY 2.0 / Mirci
 
Flag and Farewell
We hope you enjoyed looking for us, and learning about our school, city, province, and country. If you'd like to contact us, you can write our teacher

Flag
CWikimedia Commons / Public Domain