There is this place in Holon called "Better Place" where they are manufacturing completely electric cars and setting up charging and battery swap-out stations throughout Israel (and parts of Europe and elsewhere). They offer tours and tests drives. Unfortunately for us, but good for them, they are so busy right now with their car orders that they cancelled all of their tours.
http://www.betterplace.com/global-progress-israel So, we had to find a better place to go to rather than "Better Place" and I think we succeeded.
The Solomon-Berman camp headed back into Yerushalaim to Ir David. Not to be confused with Dovie's Ears, cuz trust me, you don't want to go there!
We parked in Mamilla Mall. After yesterday's parking fiasco this was refreshingly normal and straightforward. We walked up to Jaffa Gate and asked the Information Center how best to get to "Ir David". She wanted us to walk through the Arab Shuk to the Kotel and out Dung gate. There was NO chance that we were going that way. Fortunately I knew how to navigate my way through the Jewish Quarter. (Thank you Rivka S. now F. for all of those Shabbos invites to Aunt Tova's!)
The City of David is just across the street and down the hill once you exit Dung Gate right near the Kotel.
http://www.cityofdavid.org.il/en
We arrived just in time to catch the 3-D English movie. My Matmon card allowed us to visit the grounds and walk the tunnels for free. We only had to pay for the movie. They did a very good job laying out the history of the area with computer graphics and aerial maps. It was worth the money. We ate lunch in a shaded area complete with washing stations and washing cups. We were serenaded by the harp at the front gate. I then had the kids change into their swim trunks and water shoes so we could make our way down to Hiskiyahu's Tunnel (Warren's Shaft).
This tunnel was similar to the one we did in Mey Kedem, except for a few things. 1) It is much longer, about 500m 2) there are NO sources of light in the tunnel. Flashlights are a must (yay headlamps!) 3) you could walk side by side in much of the tunnel in Mey Kedem, here much of it was tight walking single file 4) there are several areas where the ceiling is quite low most adults had to duck as we walked 5) except for the beginning, however the water is very shallow, mostly mid calf. We hypothosized as to why there were certain differences. We came up with a) The Roman's had better technology b) the Jews did this to survive and hide, so it was secret c) the Roman's made theirs to develop an area and had more room, the one in Yerushalaim was in an already populated area and had to snake around more. Could be.
Dovie decided he was going to play "Bored tour guide" as he lead us through. He made up commentary on everything we saw along the way. "Here is an ancient wall, watch your step as you climb up these ancient stairs, over here you will find the ancient cave with the very same spider King David saw..." Part way through the water tunnel he got tired of his running commentary and decided to play shrieking zombie. I'm sure if the Berman girls were going through with out us they would be troding through the water (minus the headlamps) singing Tehillim and noticing how their voices sound with the acoustics of the tunnel. But too bad, zombies it is. At least they weren't trying out burps and other noises they seem to favor.
Once we finally came out the other end we had a choice, take a taxi for 5NIS a piece back up to the entrance, or go through a dry tunnel for 400m. (roughly 20 min) We chose to walk. Along the way we learned that this was part of the path that people took when they were coming to the Bais HaMikdash on the major holidays. Some how I doubt they were able to go through that part with their oxen and cattle, but it was cool to think about climbing the hill to where the Temple once stood. It was cool for a while, until Bailey decided that she had had enough of the sling carrier, wanted to walk, then just wanted to pitch a fit. Fortunately my niece Liba stuck around to help me though the second tunnel.
This tunnel ended on the scaffolding of where they are still on archeological digs and excavation. It was neat to watch them at work uncover the ancient rooms and mosaics. (No bored tour guides here).
We had thought that we would go to the Davidson Gate to see what is going on there, but even with the popsicle break we were sensing an end to our day. I wanted my kids to do one last Mincha at the Kotel before our trip was over, and it was right there, so off we went.
We tried AGAIN to get a picture with some Chayailim. We saw a group of three walking and I asked them if we could pose. The Chayelet (lady soldier) said sure, the two men looked annoyed and walked on. More dud soldier photos. We began to walk up the steps back to the Jewish Quarter when we saw a bunch of soldiers coming down. My sister stepped in to ask if we could take a picture with them. FINALLY we got our army men picture. Thank you IDF!!
You would think our day was over, but I had one more activity planned. After we snarfed down some food for dinner, Elisheva came to baby sit Bailey while the boys and I went into Modiin for a chocolate workshop.
http://www.chocolatedreamsco.com/ We met our Chocolatier Rhonda Israel who used to run a yeshiva but decided to do something more fun when she made aliyah 12 years ago. She has a room off of her kitchen which it dedicated to her chocolate business. She has a an official Teudah for Kosher LeMehadrin posted.
Our work shop was in her living room. Since we had told her this trip was largely in honor of Dovie's Bar Mitzvah we were warmly greeted with a festive like party set up. At each place was chocolate tefillin, an informative paper about chocolate and some treats and drinks waiting for us. All of the chocolate she makes is pareve so Mendel was free to enjoy. Rhonda, our joyous, delightful instructor showed us her chocolate temper machine. It can hold about 10lbs of chocolate.
She demonstrated how we can make a variety of different flavors of chocolate with all of the ingredients she layed out for us. She gave us 12 candy holders each to fill with our own creations. She had the upmost patience with Meir and helped him a long. She didn't freak out when Mendel looked like he was covered in chocolate. She complemented Dovie's creations and answered Eli's questions clearly and kindly. She even took photos of our activities for us. We were there for about 2 hours. We put our chocolates into a gold candy holder and then into our own boxes. The boys all said this was one of the best things we have done. I guess we found our "Better Place". Twice.
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