My last stop on the way was at the Institute for Astronomy in Hawaii. Now that was an environment completely different from what I am used to. It was really interesting to get a glimps into what is really going on in the universe (or what we can observe there of). Good not to loose touch with physics completely when trying to solve physics related problems in mathematics.
I learned about the fact that when using the typical energy density of the universe to calculate the expansion rate instead of the average density one can obtain an evolution history without dark energy that closely traces a solution with dark energy where the average energy density is considered.
I had the opportunity to speak in the IfA Colloquium about the central problems in mathematical relativity and recent advances in the field.
Welcome to my intellectual Universe