Sabbatical in Central Europe

We spent two weeks at the Geodetic Observatory (GO) Pecný, located in a hill 1.5 km near the village of Ondřejov. Ondřejov itself is about 1 hour by public transportation from Prague. A bucolic and picturesque place, located inside a forest. We stayed in a small cottage they have for visiting researchers and scholars. GO Pecný date back to the 1960's and their main activity was the determination of astronomical latitude, longitude and azimuth, evening operations. Later on, they started to perform satellite photography, also evening operations. Therefore, an infrastructure was necessary for the scientists and technicians to stay overnight. The main office building, built at that time, had offices each one with a bed, and every floor had a kitchen, bathroom and shower. Today, a similar way of working exists. The scientists, engineers and technicians may spend two or three days living in the office, doing the rest of the work in other places such as Prague, Plze ň ,  or even at t

I spent my birthday in Prague. A special day. Earlier, we visited the church of the Infant Jesus of Prague (the full name is Church of Our Lady Victorious and the Infant Jesus of Prague), in Malá Strana. After that, we went up hill towards Prague Castle, stopping at Medieval style restaurant U krále Brabantskéko  for an old style Czech meal (with modern beer). There we went to Strahov Monastery. We ended up our evening on Charles Bridge. Eu passei meu aniversário em Praga. Um dia especial. Logo cedo, visitamos a igreja do Menino Jesus de Praga (o nome completo é Igreja de Nossa Senhora Vitoriosa e o Menino Jesus de Praga), em Malá Strana. Depois disso, subimos a colina em direção ao Castelo de Praga, parando no restaurante de estilo medieval U krále Brabantskéko para uma refeição tcheca à moda antiga (com cerveja moderna). De lá fomos ao mosteiro de Strahov. Nós terminamos nossa noite na Charles Bridge. Fireworks over the Vltava River overlooking Prague Castle and St. Vitus Ca

A working dinner at the U Dobre Myslenky restaurant, in Prague, with Pavel Novak (left) and Petr Vanícek (center). We discussed geodetic research and life in general (after a few Czech beers). Denise was at the dinner too and took the picture. Um jantar de trabalho no restuarante U Dobre Myslenky, em Praga, com Pavel Novak (esquerda) e Petr Vanícek (centro). Discutimos pesquisa geodésica e vida em geral (depois de algumas cervejas tchecas). Denise estava no jantar também, e tirou a foto.

We took Polski Bus again to travel from Wrocław to Prague. Our previous experience (travelling from Berlin to Wrocław ) was not that smooth. That time, the driver was a very rude uni-lingual person who could only speak Polish (and not that well according to other passengers). He was rude with us because of our luggage, even though I had paid to carry extra ones. Any way, from Wrocław to Prague everything went smooth and we had a nice trip, in spite of the on board wireless erratic performance.

The second part of my visit to Wrocław took place at the Department of Geodesy and Geoinformatics at the Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences. I was warmly greeted by several colleagues, among them (photo 1, from right to left) Prof. Jarosław Bosy, Krzysztof Sośnica, Kamil Kaźmierski, Denise, Marcelo, Tomasz Hadaś and Jan Kapłon. The week was busy with presentations and discussions, with just enough "break time" to "refresh." A segunda parte da minha visita a Wrocław (Breslávia) realizou-se no Departamento de Geodésia e Geoinformática da Universidade  de Ciências Ambientais e da Vida  de Wrocław . Fui calorosamente recebido por vários colegas, entre eles (foto 1, da direita para a esquerda) Prof. Jarosław Bosy, Krzysztof Sośnica, Kamil Kaźmierski, Denise, Marcelo, Tomasz Hadaś e Jan Kapłon. A semana foi ocupada com apresentações e discussões, sem muito  "tempo de descanso", mas suficiente para "refrescar."  "

I finally visited the Wrocław University of Science and Technology and its Faculty of Geoengineering, Mining and Geology. I was hosted by our colleague and long-time friend Anna Chrzanowska, head of the Department of Geodesy and Geoinformatics. I had the opportunity to interact with Dean and Professor Monika Hardygóra, and her team composed of Associate Professor Radosław Zimroz, Vice-Dean for Science, Gabriela Paszkowska, Vice-Dean for Studies in Mining and Geology, Associate Professor Joanna Bac-Bronowicz, Vice-Dean for Studies, Geodesy and Cartography and Wojciech Milczarek, Vice-Dean for Student Affairs. I also had the opportunity to deliver a seminar entitled Geodesy and Geoinformation for positioning , weather and climate to the students of geodesy and geoinformatics and members of the faculty (Photo 1). Anna also took us in a tour around the university campus (Photo 2) where we could see her name engraved in the "Professor's Wall" where the names of all prof