After only a 3 hours flight (& sleeping for maybe 2 of it) we arrived in NYC where we had to farewell Jess & Sean as went our separate ways. With little sleep but plenty of enthusiasm mum & I headed towards the air train to conquer as much as we could during our 7hr stopover. From the air train we took the 'A' train/subway into Fulton street to firstly see ground zero which was no longer squares of temporary fencing like when I was here in 2003 but were now graceful square water fountains cascading down into the ground. We then accidentally did an extra block than we needed to so it was then a VERY fast walk to the Staton Island ferry but we just made the 9am one by about 5mins. It was a pleasant 25mins ride there, past the Statue of Liberty, then the same back with the view towards Manhattan. Once we disembarked it was down into the subway to head north to Times Square. A quick lap through the square & it's bright lights and bustle then we returned to the subway via a coffee shop for some much needed caffeine & we were soon heading back to the airport this time via the 'E' train. We were pleased to have crammed so much into the 2.5 hrs we had in Manhattan. All that touristing had really worn us out as when we got on our small 60 seater plane to Toronto neither of us were awake for taxi, take off or the majority of the short flight. The power nap worked wonders & helped us tackle getting into Toronto by public transport. First we took the bus to the end of the subway line which cost $3 each, then took the subway in, changing once before exiting at union station. We hadn't passed ticket machines or barriers going into the subway & you could just push the turnstile to exit so we only ended up paying $3 for our whole trip in. It was only a few blocks to the Novotel where we were very happy to see our room with 2 big comfy queen beds! Even better for $110 a night it included buffet breakfast. For dinner we only walked to the end of the block to an Irish pub where I had a shepard's pie which really hit the spot, washed down with an amber lager. Afterwards we sank into our beds after a big day of adventures on very little sleep.