"Top Ten" posts of 2014

One year has passed since I started the blog Cross Country Chronicles.  Most of the topics and themes were from my travels in the United States and Greece.  The ten most popular out of 101 posts in 2014 and a picture of my two favorite recent graduates (above) were as follows:

1.     Ohio State University GraduationDay 

2.     Porto Rafti

3.     Poseidon’s Temple and the AegeanSea

4.     Hostile Downing of CivilianAirplanes

5.     “Top three”

6.     Mycenae

7.     Island of Lovers

8.     Cook County Hospital

9.     New Orleans

10.   Delphi

As this is the first day of 2015 I would like to wish to 13,000+ visitors of this blog a very Happy and Healthy New Year.   Most of the visitors were from the United States, followed by Greece and Canada.  The next seven countries as far as number of visits were Malaysia, Germany, France, Ukraine, Poland, United Kingdom and Russia.

Top Ten Posts

I will list the top 10 posts in order of popularity. The gold medal goes to New Orleans, while Mothers and their children and San Francisco part I, take the silver and bronze medals respectively.  As of today, Grand Canyon, The car trip, Cook County Hospital, Monument Valley, Fountain of Youth, The Hermit and Which vehicle did we drive, complete the list.

Riding on the City Of New Orleans

Illinois Central, Monday morning rail

Fifteen cars and fifteen restless riders

Three Conductors; twenty-five sacks of mail

All along the southbound odyssey - the train pulls out of Kankakee

And rolls along past houses, farms, and fields

Passing trains that have no name, and freight yards full of old black men

And the graveyards of the rusted automobile

Good morning, America, how are you?

Say, don't you know me? I'm your native son

I'm the train they call the City Of New Orleans

I'll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done

Dealing card games with the old man in the Club Car

Penny a point - ain't no one keeping score

As the paper bag that holds the bottle

Feel the wheels rumbling 'neath the floor

And the sons of Pullman Porters, and the sons of Engineers

Ride their father's magic carpets made of steel

And, mothers with their babes asleep rocking to the gentle beat

And the rhythm of the rails is all they feel

Good morning, America, how are you?

Say, don't you know me? I'm your native son

I'm the train they call the City Of New Orleans

I'll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done

Night time on the City Of New Orleans

Changing cars in Memphis Tennessee

Halfway home - we'll be there by morning

Through the Mississippi darkness, rolling down to the sea

But, all the towns and people seem to fade into a bad dream

And the steel rail still ain't heard the news

The conductor sings his songs again - the passengers will please refrain

This train got the disappearing railroad blues

Good night, America, how are you?

Say, don't you know me? I'm your native son

I'm the train they call the City Of New Orleans

I'll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done