Travel News

AP - It's a matter of perspective. From aboard a 12-deck cruise liner, the sight of St. Mark's Square, the Doge's Palace and Bridge of Sighs gliding past from a cabin balcony is a breathtaking thrill.

AP - There's a hidden corner of the City by the Bay where rusted cranes used to build WWII battleships loom over dilapidated artist studios, where working-class fishermen bob up against first-class ocean liners docked for repair.

AP - Indianapolis' chowder and fried clams didn't measure up to the storied fare that has spoiled John and Cheryl Younghans in their native New England. Fellow New England Patriots fan Bob Ritchie drove to the Hoosier State from Massachusetts and when he arrived was floored by the flatness.

AP - A new exhibition set to open at Atlanta's High Museum of Art showcases the work of Bill Traylor, who was born into slavery in Alabama and became a highly respected self-taught artist after he began drawing while sitting on the sidewalks of Montgomery as an old man.

AP - I'm at the wheel of a Buick Park Avenue, driving about 30 mph on a snowy surface, when a sharp curve looms ahead. I tap the brake and steer leftward entering the turn. But something goes wrong. The car skids to the right and — WHOMP — slams into a snowbank, where it's stuck fast. Auugghh!!

AP - The latest scavenger hunt takes you underwater.

AP - People are already joking it's a good thing the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation isn't charging admission for its new visitor center, which showcases Bill Gates' multibillion-dollar philanthropy, not his computers.

AP - Birds are chirping, the grass is green and tea is being served amid blossoming bushes.

AP - No tickets for the 2012 Olympics? Don't despair: You don't need one to enjoy the games and the party atmosphere in London this summer.

AP - It was called "outcast London" for its squalid slums in Victorian times, has the dubious reputation as the haunt of Jack the Ripper, and one of Britain's most polluted rivers runs through its long-derelict shipyards and warehouses.

AP - The sea of Marmara shimmered to my right, a pod of dolphins played improbably in the ferry-and tankers-choked Bosporus strait, and minarets pierced my jet-lag fog on my first Istanbul evening.

AP - Skiers and snowboarders can finally rejoice over the season's chill, but the long-delayed snowfall won't make it any easier to traverse the steep cost of winter sports.

AP - You like chocolate. You like warm baths. But are you ready for a milk chocolate bath for two?

AP - Thomas Jefferson wrote "all men are created equal" to declare U.S. independence from Britain, yet he was also a lifelong slave owner who freed only nine of his more than 600 slaves during his lifetime.

AP - Universal Orlando, with an eye on bolstering attendance, announced ambitious plans Wednesday for a daily interactive character parade and a nighttime light and pyrotechnics show at the theme park highlighting the company's 100 years of moviemaking.

AP - Photographer Annie Leibovitz says she has come back from some dark days and revived her creativity with a new project now on view at the Smithsonian American Art Museum that marks a departure from her popular celebrity portraits.

AP - Cowboys. Horses. Guns. Booze. And tennis?

AP - Tel Aviv has long been a gay paradise, one of the few places in the Middle East where gays feel free to walk hand-in-hand and kiss in public.

AP - Florida is marking the centennial of Henry Flagler's Over-Sea Railroad, which steamed through the Florida Keys Jan. 22, 1912, carrying residents and tourists from Miami through the once-isolated island chain to Key West for the first time ever.