Well, it's Friday, which means time for some more Berlin Splitter.

First some good news for the German supermarket industry: Walmart is pulling out of Germany, citing continual losses as the reason. And good riddance too. Aldi is good enough for us Old Europeans. The stores have been sold to the Metro Group and will likely be integrated into the Real chain.

If you're still looking for a bargain though, the Tierheim (animal rescue place) has a cut-price deal on cats: until August 6 new and used pussies will cost €20 instead of €80. vaccinations and de-worming included. Apparently over 600 moggies are waiting for a new Dosenöffner (opener of cans, as German cat-owners refer to themselves).

According to new statistics Berlin's busiest shopping street, the Tauentzienstrasse, ranks at number 10 for pedestrian frequency: with fewer than 9,000 passers-by per hour it trails a long way behind Cologne's Hohe Straße with over 17,000 shoppers an hour and is even beaten by Mannheim's "Planken" (whatever that is). (What the study doesn't take into account though is Berlin's very decentral nature: unlike the provincial in the list, Berlin has no one main centre, with areas such as the Friedrichstraße and Potsdamer Platz vying for shopper's euros).

Talking of Potsdamer Platz, the IMAX cinema (Discovery Channel IMAX Theater) will be closing on Saturday - due to either financial difficulties of its management company, and / or disagreements with the building's owner, Daimler-Chrysler. The spherical auditorium is to be turned into a musical theatre, although it's not clear how. (Note that the other IMAX cinema, in the Sony Center, is not affected by this).

Another bulding with a spherical element, the Reichstag, is not in danger of immanent closure and has according to recently released statistics recently registered its 3 millionth visitor.

And finally: if the Reichstag sounds too crowded for you, check out the Tierpark Berlin's late night special: tonight it will remain open until midnight, with special illuminations and music, and also a lot of rather hot animals.

Posted at 1:37 PM in