Got a Coke and a smile.

My kids love watching "Unwrapped" and learning how their favorite (and sometimes foods unknown to them) are made and sent to market. So, when we found out that Coca Cola in Bnei Brak offers tours, we signed right up. Yes, of course, this is yet another activity you need to plan for well in advance. If you have a group of 15 or more they will even set up something in English for you. We were 12 counting the little kids, so Hebrew it is. http://www.cocacola.co.il/Center/home.html 

Yerushalaim cities are challenging at best for parking, but Bnei Brak takes the cake. The streets are incredibly narrow and mostly 2 way. There are no meters or pay areas that I could determine. After about 15 minutes of snaking my way through I decided to park like and Israeli and invent a space on a sidewalk next to an apartment building. I made sure that anyone near there could get out and I wasn't blocking any driveways. I just couldn't wait to get out of my car already.

The kids and my sister went a head as scheduled, but the Coca Cola tour guides later brought me up to meet them. They have a strict 8 years old and up policy for the tour, so I had to bring Bailey, Meir and Chana to the Coke tasting area to hang out with my sister while I continued with the rest of the kids. I had missed the group shot picture in front of a backdrop of Coke cans from around the world, a movie (because that is how all Israeli tours begin) and room set up like an old fashioned bar where Coca Cola began. I thankfully missed some sort of spinny room that was supposed to evoke your senses. When I caught up with them, all of the kids were on exercises bikes pedaling to music through a forest. I think it was to show you how Coke gives you energy.
 Our next stop was onto a ride that was shaped like giant bubbles. The ride moved up and down while we put on 3-D glasses and went through a Coke-world that was mostly a tour of old Coke ads (many I remembered....) Finally we were admitted into the Coke factory. We watched zillions of 1.5L bottles line up, fill up, get their labels and lids and be boxed and stacked. It was pretty cool, and very loud. Rav Landau who gives Coke products their hechsher is one of only 3 people in the world who know the whole Coke recipe.

Our final stop met up with the little kids. Every one could take a bottle of soda of choice (of course some kids asked for a Pepsi :P ).

The day was still young and thee was now sugar and caffeine in abundance to burn off, so off to the park. My brother-in-law works in nearby Petach Tikva (or according to local signage Tikwa) therefore the Berman's knew of a great park that was across from a mall. I don't know if the park has a name, but it is on Basel street. This park has one of the largest, most complex climbing structures I have ever seen. It also had an enormous rope swing that all of the kids could stand and swing on at one time. The kids ran, climbed, slid and spun for a while.

 We ate lunch and then ventured across the street into the well air conditioned mall for an ice cream treat. Burger Ranch has a special, 4 soft serve ice cream cones for 10NIS (about $2.50). We walked the mall a bit before heading back home.

The the little kids topped off their day with a swim in the Berman's pool. They dined on Pizza Hut while RC and I ate dinner out sans kids.