AP - A new exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago takes a close — sometimes even microscopic — look at one short and enigmatic phase in the 65-year-long artistic career of France's Henri Matisse.

AP - Even after almost 30 years of research, Jan Alpert still gets goose bumps when she discovers a new branch on her family tree.

AP - A comprehensive travel guidebook can feel like a brick in your luggage. Yet smart phone travel guides are not always a good alternative. They can overwhelm users with potentially unreliable user-generated content or underwhelm them with a flashy interface and little true substance.

AP - It was just like driving to work, except that I kept on going: From New York to Argentina, through 12 countries, for four months and more than 13,000 miles.

AP - Nepal wants to paint Mount Everest pink.

AP - In the Bible, Moses climbs Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments.

AP - Huckleberry Finn sprang to life in a swirl of cheap cigar smoke at Mark Twain's cozy hilltop cabin in upstate New York far from the Mississippi River.

AP - With the majesty of the Smoky Mountains as a backdrop, the Pancake Pantry in Gatlinburg has been serving locals and visitors alike for 50 years.

AP - I started hearing the offers soon after arriving at the Liang Bua cave in the mountains of Flores island.

AP - Looking down into the construction site covering the 16 acres where the World Trade Center once stood, some might see a place shadowed by death.

AP - Grabbing a bat once swung by Johnny Bench brought a rush of cherished memories for James Montgomery during a visit to the Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory — where baseball memorabilia mixes with a close-up look at how the famed bats are crafted.

AP - Mexico's spring break king — Cancun — is rebounding quickly from last year's triple blow to its tourism industry caused by the country's swine flu epidemic, drug violence and a global economic crisis.

AP - With 100 days to go before the World Cup, jackhammers shuddered and bulldozers rumbled Tuesday as workers wearing "Proud to be building Soccer City for 2010" buttons readied South Africa's main stadium.

AP - There is arguably no place more central to Ireland's capital than the River Liffey, snaking its way through the city and dividing Dublin into north and south sides before emptying into the Irish Sea at the city's edge.

AP - From the Pacific coast to the shores of the Black Sea. From the peaks of western Canada to the Caucasus mountains of southern Russia. From gleaming North American skyline to palm-fringed resort in the former Soviet Union.

AP - It is billed as a leisurely boat tour. The shark surfaces, its fin slicing through the water.

AP - Look, there's Oscar winner Warren Beatty at the Beverly Hills Hotel, lounging in a restaurant booth. Or Drew Barrymore huffing it up a trail in the Hollywood Hills.

AP - The few beach walkers, surfers and sidewalk shoppers who ventured out on a recent chilly afternoon created a very different scene from the craziness that will soon crank up here as temperatures climb and students descend on this spring break paradise.