20180529 Tel Aviv: Got up around 7:30 and met Spellers for breakfast at 8:00. Got into Yael’s van at 9:30 and went over to the Sarona area. Yael told us about the German Templars that had settled here and their history. The buildings have been restored since the British had used them as a military base before 1948 and then the IDF had them until about a decade ago. Then they were renovated into shops and restaurants so the area looks as it did in Templar time.
Then went into the Sarona Market … sort of like Chelsea Market. Great looking foods, food stalls, kitchen supplies, etc. Spent some time just wandering and taking images.
Headed south to Rehovot area which houses the Weitzman Institute and the Ayalon Institute where we were heading. Ayalon Institute sits on the site of a kibbutz, under which the Haganah secreted a bullet-making factory from 1945-1948 putting out 2.5 million bullets for use in Sten machine guns. They built this underground facility at the kibbutz while surrounded by British army camps. Great story about how they hid from the British and the secrecy of what was going on there that was only know by the 45 workers who made the bullets.
At the end of the tour, which included going underground to the factory, Yael took us to a private room where she told the story of her grandfather, someone she was very close with. Before he died, he asked Yael’s father to clean out his house. What was found was his Sten gun and the information that he was in the Haganah and fought with this weapon. What was with it was a box of bullets dated and coded that they came from the Ayalon facility in 1948. So the family donated all this to Ayalon and Yael has the privilege of showing it to us and others she brings here. A very personal and emotional experience.
We drove back to Tel Aviv, parked near the food market, and had a great lunch at a Tunisian restaurant, Oh Mama. Wandered through the food market and emerged on a side street to head over to the arts and crafts market that is held each Tuesday and Thursday (Nachlat Binyamin). Spent time looking at the items in the market and then headed back to the hotel near 5:00.
I left the hotel at 7:15 with others following a few minutes later. I walked down the street and over to a clear area where I could see the sea and Yafo to take sunset pix. Nice. Then met others as Manta Ray for a terrific dinner. Took a long time, so Spellers went over for gelato and we went to the hotel. Leaving tomorrow AM at 8:15 to head north. Great day today!
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