Sabbatical in Central Europe

(Português segue abaixo) Alter Stadtwächter is a restaurant which combines classic and special cuisine from Germany and Austria, located near the Brandenburg Gate in Potsdam. It was a farewell dinner the evening after my seminar at GFZ (Nov 23rd). It was a very enjoyable evening with the presence of many of the colleagues I interacted in the past three months (not all of them), with plans for future work. Thanks, guys. These have been tremendous three months. Until next time! - - - - Alter Stadtwächter é um restaurante que combina cozinha clássica e especial da Alemanha e da Áustria, localizada perto do Portão de Brandemburgo, em Potsdam. Foi um jantar de despedida na noite após o meu seminário na GFZ (23 de novembro). Foi uma noite muito agradável com a presença de muitos dos colegas que interagi nos últimos três meses (nem todos eles), com planos para o futuro trabalho. Valeu pessoal. Estes foram tremendos três meses. Até a próxima! From left to right ( da esquerda ...

(Português segue abaixo) Yesterday I delivered a seminar at the German Research Centre for Geosciences ( Deutsche GeoForschungsZentrum - GFZ), talking about the connection between physics and geometry that makes what Geodesy is. The title was "From Physics to Geometry: a tapestry of heights." During the Seminar I had the opportunity to highlight part of my work dealing with heights, from a Physical Geodesy aspect (including the novel concept of rigorous orthometric heights ) and from a modeller of the neutral-atmosphere (including its growing contributions to climate) - - - - Ontem eu apresentei um seminário no Centro Pesquisas Alemão para Geociências ( Deutsche GeoForschungsZentrum - GFZ), falando sobre a conexão entre física e geometria, o que é um dos eixos da Geodesia. O título foi "Da Física à Geometria: uma tapeçaria de altitudes". Durante o Seminário, eu tive a oportunidade de destacar parte do meu trabalho que trata de altitudes, de um aspecto ...

One interesting thing about Potsdam is that it hosts a very large film studio, the Babelsberg Park. It has been producing movies since 1912. Lots of famous movies were produced there, including Fritz Lang's Metropolis , Josef von Sternberg's The Blue Angel, V for Vendetta , Captain America Civil War,  The Bourne Ultimatum , Inglourious Basterds , The Grand Budapest Hotel and The Hunger Games . We visited the museum on Saturday Nov 18th. - - - - Uma coisa interessante sobre Potsdam é que ele hospeda um estúdio de cinema muito grande, o Babelsberg Park, que funciona desde 1912. Muitos filmes famosos foram produzidos lá, incluindo Metropolis de Fritz Lang, The Blue Angel de Josef von Sternberg, V para Vendetta, Guerra Civil do Capitão América, The Bourne Ultimatum, Inglourious Basterds, The Grand Budapest Hotel e Jogos Vorazes.  Nós visitamos o museu no sábado, 18 de novembro. 

Yesterday, I delivered a seminar at Technical University Berlin, talking about what is most modern on Geodesy for Climate and also on application of precise point positioning in terrestrial navigation. Ontem, eu apresnetei um seminário na Universidade Técnica de Berlin, falando sobre o que existe de mais moderno sobre o emprego da Geodésia no estudo do Clima, bem como sobre aplicação do PPP ( precise point positioning ) na navegação terrestre. From left to right: Roman Galas, Jens Wickert, Harald Schuh, Marcelo Santos, Robert Heinkelmann and Jamila Beckheinrich

(Português abaixo) We visited Magdeburg on Sunday. Magdeburg is the capital city and the second largest city of the state of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany (the largest city is Halle). Magdeburg is situated on the Elbe River and was one of the most important medieval cities of Europe. In the 10th century it was considered "The Third Rome" (the second being Constantinople). It was chosen by Otto I, the Great, the first elected Holy Roman Emperor, as his favorite residence. He gave it to his wife, Editha, as a wedding gift. Otto I (912-973) reigned from (962 to 973). Magdeburg was f ounded by Charlemagne in 805 as Magadoburg (great fort). Otto I was crowned in the throne of Charlemagne, in Aachen. The majestic Magdeburg Cathedral started to be built in 1209 and it was the first church designed wholly in the Gothic Style. It was a bishopric of the Catholic Church until it was confiscated and  taken over by the Protestants during the Reformation. Today, it is the principal church ...

(Português abaixo) The Magdeburg Water Bridge ( Kanalbrücke Magdeburg or Wasserstraßenkreuz Magdeburg ) is a bridge that contains a navigating canal. The water bridge is part of the important link in the waterway network of that Germany. It is a component of the principal east-west inland waterway connection that links Germany to France, Switzerland Belgium, Holland, Luxemburg, Poland, the Czech Republic and the Baltic Sea. We visited the Water Bridge on Sunday, in our way to the city of Magdeburg. It is an interesting sight, to see a river crossing over another one. The lower river, the Elbe, the upper river, the canal, passing through the bridge. See the pictures below. Quite interesting.  - - - - A Ponte da Água de Magdeburg ( Kanalbrücke Magdeburg ou Wasserstraßenkreuz Magdeburg ) é uma ponte que contém um canal de navegação. A ponte aquática faz parte da importante conexão na rede fluvial da Alemanha. É um componente da principal via navegável interior leste-oeste que...

(Português abaixo) Saturday we visited Rheinsberg, a small city north of Potsdam famous for being the location of the first palace built by Frederick the Great (1712-1786), then just a 20 years-old royal prince and heir to the Prussian throne. Jens Wickert and his wife, Charlotte, were our hosts for the afternoon and evening. We also visited a museum dedicated to Alfred Wegener (1880-1930). Wegener was a German meteorologist and geophysicist who formulated the continental drift hypothesis, which could only be accepted as theory in the 1960's. It is a small museum but it has a very nice collection, such as the gondola of the hot air balloon he used to collect meteorological measurements of the lower atmosphere. The tour also included visit to the Marinas that serve the lakes in the region. We also visited the town of Meseberg, where is located a palace used by German Chancellor Angela Merkel as summer residence and also to host international dignitaries. In Meseberg, we saw t...

Germany has all sorts of sausages. It is indeed quite a variety . One of the most popular is the Bratwurst , a sausage made from finely minced pork and beef, usually grilled and served with sweet German mustard or ketchup and a small piece of bread. If served sliced it is called Currywurst , being slathered it in a catchup-curry sauce. Below, our snack bought at the Postsdam street market near St. Peter and Paul Church. - - - - A Alemanha tem todos os tipos de salsichas. Na verdade, existe grande variedade. Uma das mais populares é a Bratwurst , uma salsicha feita de carne de porco e carne de bovino finamente picada, geralmente grelhada e servida com mostarda alemã ou ketchup e um pequeno pedaço de pão. Currywurst , é quando ela é cortada em fatias e servida em um molho de curry catchup. Abaixo, nosso lanchinho no mercado de rua de Postsdam, perto da Igreja de São Pedro e Paul. Photos: Denise Puget.

(Português segue abaixo) We live in New Brunswick. Who or what is a "brunswick"?  Where does this name come from? My students know I like to "pull their legs" asking those from Fredericton who was Frederick, those from Charlottetown who was Charlotte, those from Halifax who was Halifax ... The province of New Brunswick was founded in 1784 after a partition of Nova Scotia. It was named after the German city of Braunschweig (Brunswick in English), then located in the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg (current Lower Saxony). Its name was chosen to honour the reigning British monarch, George III, who was also Duke and prince-elector of Brunswick-Lüneburg ("Hanover") in the Holy Roman Empire. At that time, the British monarchy belonged to the House of Hannover, and King George was king of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland  as well as of the Kingdom of Hanover, even though he never visited his German kingdom. Therefore, as "good new brunswic...

(Português segue abaixo, após a figura) Potsdam was heavily bombed during WWII due to its proximity to Berlin, and it is expected that hundreds of non-detonated bombs remain buried in both cities. One of those bombs was discovered in a construction site near the main train station of the city (hauptbahnhof) on Monday morning and it is going to be defused by demolition champion Mike Schwitzke of the ordnance disposal service of the state of Brandenburg. More than 600 helpers, including the city of Potsdam, the professional fire brigade, volunteer fire departments, federal police and police are in action to clear the barrier and secure. A large area of the city will be closed tomorrow (Wednesday). This area is indicated in highlighted in red in the map. According to the City of Potsdam in the restricted area there are nursing homes, two elementary schools, a comprehensive school, six day care centers, the main station, the long bridge (Lange Brücke), the education forum, blu sports an...

(texto em português abaixo) Our department has a Memorandum of Understanding with Leibniz Universität Hannover, Germany, for exchange of students, a fact that offers our undergraduate students with another opportunity for international experience, taking courses in English. Hannover U is the home of one of our department's "founding fathers", Dr. Gottfried Konecny (seen in the picture, along with Dr. Monika Sester, director of the Institute of Cartography and Geoinformatics). I visited the university yesterday, meeting colleagues and delivering a presentation "Geodesy for climate and terrestrial navigation at UNB." - - - - Nosso departamento possui um Convênio com a Leibniz Universität Hannover, na Alemanha, para troca de estudantes, fato que oferece aos nossos estudantes de graduação outra oportunidade para a experiência internacional, tendo cursos em inglês. Hannover U é o lar de um dos "pais fundadores" de nosso departamento, o Dr. ...

(Texto em português abaixo) Easy. With one 'n' it is English; with two 'n' it is German. Hanover is a lively city of 500 thousand inhabitants. Heavily destroyed during WWII, it was rebuilt. Its historic centre is very nice. A few pictures of the city are presented after the Portuguese text. - - - Como chamar a cidade? Bem, em portugês é Hanôver. Mas em inglês e alemão é quase igual, a única diferença é que em alemão usam-se dois 'n' e em inglês apenas um. Hanover é uma bela cidade de 500 mil habitantes. Fortemente destruída durante a Segunda Guerra Mundial, ela foi reconstruída. O seu centro histórico é muito bonito. Algumas fotos da cidade são apresentadas abaixo. Historical centre of Hanover (photo: Denise Puget) Centro Histórico de Hanôver We stayed at hotel in the historical center. Even Churchill enjoyed the view Nós ficamos em um hotel no centro histórico. Até o Churchill gostou da vista Church Die Aegienkirche, left partia...