Sea of Galilee: St. Peter's Fish

Today...today was a little bit of a disaster. I broke a wine glass, spilled coffee all over the kitchen, walked into the wrong French class (I thought it was Wednesday), nearly got hit by a tram, and a chair brutally attacked my foot while I was innocently walking by. Also I forgot to put sugar in my coffee. If you're British guy (the British guy, not a British guy) please disregard the bit about coffee everywhere and the broken wine glass. Your flat is in perfect shape. Really. Except for the blinds that I broke. Again. Sorry.

However, none of that is related to this post.

This post is about St. Peter's fish (see note at end of post). If you find yourself in Israel you should take a trip to the Sea of Galilee (or Lake Kinneret or Tiberias Lake).

On the way to Tiberias, 2009

Sea of Galilee, 2009 

Go to Tabgha. See the the loaves and fishes church. Commonly referred to as the Church of the Multiplication. (Recap: Jesus fed a lot of people with a little food. Everyone was happy. Later they built a church. Ta-da!)

Church of the Multiplication, 2009

Anyway, after you've done all of that, you should find a restaurant. Order a glass a bottle  as much wine as you want (white because you're going to order fish and those are the rules that the French made up. Follow them) and then (very nicely) demand a St. Peter's fish. This is what you will get.

Yum, 2009

And you will love it. Unless you don't like fish. In which case you are dead to me. Just kidding. Sort of.  St. Peter's fish is actually a species of Tilapia. The name refers to a story in the Bible where Peter caught a fish with a shekel in its mouth. At least according to Wikipedia. I don't actually know what I'm talking about. I just know that I ate it and it was delicious.

Even this goose thought it was delicious and geese, man, they know about fish. Actually I don't know what geese eat, but I sometimes see them chasing after small children in parks. Just saying.

Nikki is a liar. I don't eat small children. I may not even be a goose, 2009

Which brings me to my note. It was supposed to be a note about something completely unrelated to fish, but then I stumbled upon this article.

Here is a summary: [some important introduction stuff] In light of a dramatic decline in the fish population, Israel is imposing a two-year ban on fishing in the Sea of Galilee. [a lot of other important stuff about the numbers and the socio-economic impacts of said ban] 

Basically our fisheries are on the verge of collapse and you should ignore me every time I tell you to go somewhere and eat a fish. Fish are friends, not food (see Finding Nemo for further explanation). In fact, every time I tell you to eat a fish you should ignore me and go check out the Seafood Watch Program instead. 

But you should still go to Tiberias.

Rawr, 2009