Day 3 - Tel Aviv/Caesarea and a bit more drama

Charles - After some difficulties with our cab driver finding the rent car company and then difficulty with the rent car company since they did not have a car available for us. And then once we did get a car from another company down the street we had trouble finding our way back to the highway for the normal twenty minute drive from Tel Aviv to the Ayalon Bullet Factory for our 10:00am English tour.

Mark found the tour fascinating and commented that he thought it would involve a couple of guys reloading used cartridges in their garage.  He discovered that the factory which operated for about three years before Israel declared Independence and was a elaborate factory built under a kibbutz clothes laundry with twenty-five or thirty active workers making bullets from raw materials right under the eyes of the British army.  This was all made possible by a very noisy washing machine operating during the day doing laundry for the kibbutz as well as citizens of nearby Rehovat and British officers who liked the quality of the laundry service.

Firing range adjacent to the bullet manufacturing and all underground, 

This scene is a worker very carefully loading gun powder into the casings made in an adjacent room out of raw materials. The powder loader had to be extremely careful since a mistake could lead to an explosion destroying the factory as well as the workers. Only women filled the cartridges since their touch was deemed to be lighter. If discovered, the work would be totally destroyed with devastating results for the Israelis working for independence.

We had learned that Randy had his updated passport and would travel to Israel arriving today so we limited our planned activities to the "Bullet Factory" so he wouldn't left out of any other adventures.  So to occupy our time until his expected arrival around 5:00 pm, we discovered a couple of nearby places to spend some time.

The Weisman Institute is also at Rehovat (south of Tel Aviv) where the bullet factory/kibbutz is located.  It is known for extensive research in cancer therapy and the use of computer systems in solving deep scientific questions.  This research has led to some very dramatic discoveries that are used today in cancer research.  It was interesting to watch a video with both female and male scientists who have made these discoveries including Nobel Prize winners.  

 

As a note, the Weisman Institute had a working collider on campus but mothballed in the 60's when they joined in participation with the Cern Collidor located in Switzerland.  Texas had plans for a massive collider in East Texas but funding was cut off and work will likely never be continued. 

After visiting Weisman, Mark and I stopped at Latrun where there is a large display of tanks and related type equipment which had been used and/or captured during conflicts with its neighbors.  

 

Then we stopped at a nearby roadside cafe for some refreshment when we learned that Randy would not get to Tel Aviv until 10:00 pm (6 hours later than expected).  So we decided  to go on to our hotel at Caesarea and get checked in.  Because of traffic it took us over two hours to get there including some unplanned side trips.  Later when we went back to the airport it took about half an hour..  For those interested, Mark will be happy to expand on this time period. (Mark was the driver since Charles has a hurt ankle.)

 

Charlene - I got a text about 2:30 (10:30pm in Israel) this afternoon that they had picked up Randy at the airport and were headed back to the hotel for the night. Hopefully they will all sleep peacefully now that they are all together.