8th & 9th September 2009
Since we were leaving on the overnight bus to Toronto, we didn’t check out of the hotel until midday, using the morning to make some calls back to the UK, before We made our way via the subway (old hands now!) to the bus terminal and left our bags at the Greyhound desk.
Free of our bags we went off to the famous Carnegies Deli (where people like Bill Clinton have eaten) to buy a sandwich for lunch. My what a sandwich! Masses and masses of meat squeezed between a small amount of bread - glad we went for one between both of us, absolutely delicious.
We sat in central park and demolished (literally the only way to eat it - you certainly couldn’t pick it up) our sandwich, watching the many squirrels chasing each other along the ground and up trees. While we were sat there a buzzard swooped in - I think he was planning on squirrel for lunch, it was quite amazing to see such a powerful bird so close.
After lunch and some time spent just lazing around reading in Central Park, we went across to take a look at the ornate New York Library building. Before going in however, I needed to make a pit stop and in doing so discovered perhaps the best public toilets in New York, complete with automatic seat cover (just press a button to refresh) and fresh flowers, certainly not what was expected and a far cry from those at the bus terminal. Then we walked onto Grand Central Station and the United Nations Building. We were hoping to sit in the park next to the UN Building and enjoy a cookie, but it was closed for renovation. 
A final mooch around Times Square with a visit to Toys’r’us, where we couldn’t believe the Lego models of the Statue of Liberty and Empire State and which also featured a Jurassic Park display with a moving dinosaur. This was the first time we had been at Times Square at night and it has to be said it’s most definately its best side.
We grabbed a quick pizza slice to tide us over while on the bus then headed to the bus station.
The Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York is the biggest bus terminal in the USA, but even so, they do not have an information board!! We managed to find the right boarding gate by asking loads of people. Then Ed turned into some sort of unofficial Greyhound information point for the Toronto bus, for some reason (probably his friendly face) everyone kept asking him for information!
We boarded the bus and the night passed off without incident. Although we had an hour wait at the Canadian border which meant we didn’t arrive in Toronto until 10. We managed to negotiate the Toronto subway and find our hostel which seems really nice, very friendly and excellent facilities and really clean.
An afternoon siesta followed by a wander around Toronto and a nice salad on harbourfront.