Relaxing in Riverside, California.

Tio's Tacos Restaurant - Riverside

"Riverside."

We hit upon the idea of going to Riverside just to break up our journey to Las Vegas. That turned out not to be a very good idea as you will see if you read my greyhound bus tip. Neither of us knew anything about Riverside, but when I started to research it, it sounded like quite a nice place ­ which it most certainly was. We did not have a huge amount of time in Riverside as we arrived in the afternoon and were scheduled to leave early the next morning. In terms of sightseeing we stuck to the centre of town. I was very impressed with the art work, constructed out of rubbish at Tio's Tacos Restaurant. We strolled Main Street looking at the statues of famous people. We visited the Mission Inn which is probably Riverside's most famous sight. We admired several lovely churches. We noticed, but did not visit, several museums. We had a lovely meal in Heroes Restaurant and Brewery. After eating there we admired Riverside's splendid Christmas lights and were fortunate enough to catch the end of a Christmas horse drawn carriage procession.

Outside the museum. - Riverside

Riverside is named Riverside due to its location next to the Santa Ana River. We did not see this river on our visit. Riverside is situated about 60 miles east of Los Angeles and has a population of almost 304,000. Riverside is the birthplace of the Californian citrus industry. In 1874 Riverside resident, Eliza Tibbetts, was given three Brazilian navel orange trees by her friend, William Saunders ­ a horticulturist. The trees came from Bahia, Brazil and they turned out to be perfect for California's climate. By 1882, just eight years later, there were around a quarter of a million citrus trees in Riverside.

Chinese pagoda, Riverside. - Riverside

A Work Of Art : Tio's Tacos.

We were staying in America's Best Quality Inn in Riverside. When we walked there, we passed the main bus station and I noticed some strange sculptures on a fence a bit further up. I decided once we had checked in I would go and investigate. Well, it turned out they were all around a restaurant called Tio's Tacos. I later googled it and found the restaurant was owned by a Mexican called Martin Sanchez. He is a self taught artist. He started out very poor during his childhood and made himself toys out of things he found lying around, such as batteries and bits of wood. This instilled in him both a sense of creativity and a reluctance to throw things away, so he uses everyday rubbish to create works of art. I wandered around his restaurant and found bicycles, garden gnomes and TV remotes, among other things, embedded in his pavings. Vast sculptures made of coiled wire filled with rubbish sat on top of every surface. The roof of his restaurant was covered in old bikes, sculptures of people and much much more. I found the whole place quite, quite amazing. In fact I would say for me this was Riverside's number one sight.

Tio's Tacos - Riverside

Tio's Tacos - Riverside

Tio's Tacos - Riverside

Tio's Tacos - Riverside

Tio's Tacos - Riverside

Statues Of Significant People.

If you walk along Main Street in Riverside, you will pass several statues of famous people. One of these depicts Martin Luther King ­ the best of the statues in my opinion. Mahatma Gandhi is also on display here. As is Dosan Ahn Chang Ho, a Korean who lived in Riverside between 1904 and 1913, and worked in the city’s citrus groves. The statue commemorates his lifelong commitment to Korean independence from Imperial Japan. Another statue represents Eliza Tibbets, who planted America’s first naval orange tree. There is also one of Cesar Chavez an American labor leader and civil rights activist who, co-­founded the National Farm Workers Association.

Martin Luther King - Riverside

Dosan Ahn Chang Ho, - Riverside

Eliza Tibbets - Riverside

Cesar Chavez - Riverside

Mahatma Gandh - Riverside

Mission Inn.

When I read up on Riverside this sounded like the big sight and I was really looking forward to seeing it. However, without living there or taking the official tour, there is very little of it you can actually see, so it turned out to be a bit of a disappointment really. We looked at the grounds, then went inside and walked a short and very crowded stretch of corridor. All around the ways were blocked and it was necessary to show a room key to proceed. I suppose this is fair enough and paying guests may be glad of this, but it does make it fairly uninteresting for someone who just comes in to wander around. Mission Inn started out as a small hotel called the Glenwood Hotel. It was built in 1876 by engineer Christopher Columbus Miller. In 1902, Miller's son Frank Augustus Miller, renamed it Mission Inn and started building extensions to it, in a wide range of different styles.

Mission Inn - Riverside

Mission Inn - Riverside

Mission Inn - Riverside

Mission Inn - Riverside

Mission Inn - Riverside

Churches.

When we walked in to the centre of Riverside from the train station, we passed several lovely churches. I do not know anything about them; I only noted that they were in a wide variety of architectural styles and very attractive.

Churches - Riverside

Churches - Riverside

Churches - Riverside

Churches - Riverside

Churches - Riverside

Festival Of Lights.

Festival of Lights is a free festival for the people of Riverside. It is provided by the owners of the The Mission Inn Hotel. It has been taking place in Riverside over Christmas and New Year for more than twenty years. It involves a spectacular array of Christmas lights, animatronic characters, horse drawn carriages and a Ferris wheel. We knew nothing about this festival, but were fortunate enough just by being in the right place at the right time, to see the Christmas lights and a procession of horse drawn carriages. My photos of the horses and carriages during the procession did not come out very well, but I have some of them taken earlier before the procession started.

Festival of Lights - Riverside

Festival of Lights - Riverside

Horse drawn carriage procession. - Riverside

Festival of Lights - Riverside

Festival of Lights - Riverside

Heroes Restaurant & Brewery: "An Excellent Meal."

I am generally not someone who pre-­plans where we eat. We just usually see what is available, but I had read about Heroes before coming to Riverside so decided to give it a go.We were there on Christmas Eve. It was very very busy. We waited for someone to show us to a seat and when no-­one did and there did not look like there was any room, we turned to leave. Then we noticed a free table near the bar and quickly sat down. We were then approached by staff and asked if we had been shown to that table by them. We said no and expected to be put out. Instead they brought us menus and drinks. The beer choice here is excellent. I had a chicken burger as my main course. My husband had beer cheese soup. Both dishes were tasty, fresh and excellent. Service was very good. We ended up having a very enjoyable evening here and would heartily recommend it, especially if you like your beer. Address: 3397 Mission Inn Avenue, Riverside, Riverside.

Heroes Restaurant - Riverside

Heroes Restaurant - Riverside

Heroes Restaurant - Riverside

Public Transport To Riverside.

We went to Riverside on a Saturday which also happened to be Christmas Eve. We left Union Station on The Pacific Surfliner, an Amtrak train heading to San Diego. The train was very crowded but comfortable enough. It did not actually go to Riverside though. We had to get off at Fullerton and wait over an hour for an Amtrak through bus which took us to Riverside Station. Apparently there are better transport options on weekdays mainly for commuters to LA.

Public Transport to Riverside - Riverside

Public Transport to Riverside - Riverside

Public Transport to Riverside - Riverside

Scenery on route. - Riverside

Scenery on route - Riverside

Scenery on route. - Riverside

Scenery on route - Riverside

Miracle On Christmas Day:Greyhound Buses.

This was our first ever experience of Greyhound buses. We had booked our ticket well in advance and arrived in good time for departure. We were told by the bus driver: 'That's it, we are full up. You can't get on.' We pointed out we had valid tickets. We were told: 'So what everyone has valid tickets.' We spent some considerable time arguing with the driver only to be told: 'Too bad we are full; it's not my fault. I only drive. I don't book people on this bus.' We were left on a deserted bus station, which was closed for three days, in a temperature of 3 degrees Celsius with nowhere to
go; no other buses from Riverside to Las Vegas that day, no-­one to complain to. The only advice the driver had given us was: 'At some time, I don't know when, there will be a bus to San Bernadino, get on it and ask in the bus station there if anyone can help you. We stood in total despair for forty minutes waiting for that bus, worried sick we would not get on it, worried sick that even if we did get on we would still end up stranded in San Bernadino. We felt we would never reach our hotel in Las Vegas. We would miss our pre­-booked tour to the Grand Canyon, the reason for the whole trip. We would end up paying out a fortune for new accommodation and new transport. I can scarcely remember feeling more miserable in my life and all this on Christmas day. Well the San Bernadino bus came in, the driver let us on, but said: 'You'll have to sort it all out at San Bernadino yourselves. I cannot help you there." Suddenly another greyhound bus pulled in driven by the driver who would not let us on and who had dropped people in San Bernadino then driven all the way back for us. Of course we were amazed and very, very grateful. However, I cannot help feeling that none of this should have happened in the first place. We had a valid ticket; we arrived on time; our seats on that bus should have been certain. I doubt very very much we will ever use greyhound again after this experience.

Greyhound Buses - Riverside

On the bus - Riverside