Your day may start as a blank canvas, but Santa Fe has plenty of local colour to paint it with.

BBC: Daily deal: Getaway to Santa Fe

AD, never lingers over local colour, but keeps a firm, if not wholly accurate, grip on the conflict at the heart of the drama between General Maximus, who is Caesar's chosen successor, and the emperor's son Commodus, who will not let parricide or incest stand in the way of cementing a dynasty.

ECONOMIST: Hollywood

Wearing maroon jerseys (the only colour available at the local sporting-goods store), and with high-top shoes, leather maskless helmets and trousers padded with magazines, the Maroons beat the league's other strong team, the Chicago Cardinals, towards the end of the 1925 season.

ECONOMIST: An old wrong may be about to be righted

The adventurous take local buses, with all the challenge, chaos and colour they entail, but hiring a taxi for the day allows for more flexibility in stopping to enjoy the scenery and less strain on the nerves.

BBC: Apple harvest in the Himalayan foothills

Not so China's poorer interior, where the dark colour of colas is associated with the dark tea traditionally used to mask the sediment in the local water.

ECONOMIST: Coca-Cola strikes it rich in Asia with a new drink

But local officials are more preoccupied with revving up the economy of Huimin, whose dreary main street enjoys a burst of colour from the frontage of a 24-hour McDonald's.

ECONOMIST: China abroad