La Ruta Del Guachinche

Sometimes there are signs telling where the Guachinches are, but
some can be quite difficult to find.
Like the sign says you can buy the 'Vino Cosecha' from the barrels in
these kind of restaurants, but you must bring your own bottle.
That's what I'm gonna do next time!

It was my day off yesterday and I went with Brito, who also had a day off, to Ikea in Sta Cruz to buy some stuff for the Christmas.
I bought among other things a new covering and pillows for the bed, a red carpet, a typical Swedish Christmas straw buck and some candles etc.
The best bargain of the day was a little red lamp for the balcony. It just creates a perfect romantic relaxing atmosphere and I like it so much.
I also bought some Swedish Christmas products like herrings, ginger cookies, glögg etc.

After the shopping we went on a Guachinche excursion in the north of the island.
We don't have many Guachinche restaurants here in the south of the island but there are many in the north, specially in the area between Sta Cruz and Buena Vista. (on both sides of the motorway)

The Guachinche restaurants are really like small pearls. They are not easy to find if you don't know where to look for them.
They only have a few different Canarian delicacies on the menu (mostly no written menu) and they are very small in size. They are clean and nice and the food has got the best quality even when the prices are very low.
I just love them! To be honest with you I'm very tired of the normal restaurants here and I prefer at the moment to eat this special home made Canarian cuisine.
The wines are also very special in these restaurants and yesterday I got to taste many different when Brito ordered a small 'jarra quarto' (1/4 carafe) in every place we visited so that I could try them all. Oh, it was such a lovely day!
I've now got a little bit more insight in the Canarian culture, that I didn't have before, even when I have been living on the island for 6 years.

The first place where we stopped is called 'El Requinto', in Tacoronte.
Here we had like a starter.

'A ' jarra quarto'.
The wine glasses have had this style in every Guachinche I have visited so far.
They are very small, only about 1,5 dl.
Like you can see both the carafe and the glasses have been in the
freezer. That's why they look frosty.
The locals like to drink the wine in the right temperature.

First we had 'Croqueta patata'.
These homemade potato croquettes are stuffed with different ingredients like
chicken, vegetables, meat etc. Delicious!


Then we had one more plate with croquettes.
These are called 'Croqueta queso frito con almendras'.
It's cheese croquettes with a crust of almond and you have it with blueberry jam.
Oh! I love it!!!!


Antonio Jesus Santos Brito.
At the bar, tasting the wine.


Me dressed in jeans. I normally only use skirts or dresses.
Brito has told me to dress in jeans when we go to the Guachinches.
My short skirts could be too chocking to some of the locals. *giggle*


This little restaurant had a dining room with 4 small tables, but we prefer
to sit at the bar like the locals mostly do.
If you like to be alone you choose a table, but if you are open for a chat with
the barman and the locals you better choose to sit at the bar.

Next stop was in Santa Ursula.
The restaurant is called 'Tijarafe' and they are famous because of the special coffee they make.
The coffee is called 'Saperoco' and the receipt is a secret.
It was lovely!
I'm sorry I forgot to take a photo of the restaurant which also is very nice.


We were driving on the small roads and here you can see
Puerto De La Cruz from a 'mirador' on the way to the next restaurant.


Here we are in La Orotava.
This Guachinche restaurant is called 'Bar Cachimba' (means 'The pipe' in English).
The restaurant is so popular that it was a small queue on the outside even
when it was Monday.
We decided again to eat at the bar and because of that we didn't have to wait.


We had sardines. Oh so good they tasted!!!
The quality is high in these restaurants.
And the wine was absolutely the best!
I will bring a bottle next time so that I can buy some, from
the barrel, to bring home with me.


We had next stop at 'Barranco del Ruiz'.
Here we stretched the legs and had a short walk in the park.
We also had an egg snack + tasted the local wine at a caravan bar in the park.


These two gulls were sitting spying on a cliff in the ravine.



Barranco del Ruiz.


Garachicco.
The view at the 'mirador' above Garachicco is amazing.
Here we only stopped for a few minutes while I took some photos.


On the way down from the mountains I took a few photos of the beautiful sunset.


Here you can see our neighbor island 'La Gomera'.


Isn't it beautiful? Very romantic!


We decided to have a last coffee stop at a restaurant in 'Los Menores'.
Then we went down to Los Cristianos and brought all the stuff I had bought to my home.
After that we went out for dinner to an Italian restaurant here in Los Cristianos, with
Britos' son Jesus, who had birthday yesterday.
We all had fillet steak. Guess if I was stuffed!!!
My diet was somewhere up in the blue yesterday but I have gone back to the normal today.

Oh what a day it was! I got home around 12 o'clock in the night and went to bed.
I'm happy I didn't stay up late when a new working week starts tonight.


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