Two fun items you see in Berlin are the walk symbols - both red (don't walk) & green (walk). In Europe, I find myself saying 'green guy' when the light changes & I'm about to walk across the street since the 'guys' are coloured both red & green - I walk lots when I'm away. Obviously I'm with someone & I'm not talking to myself! I started doing this when I was in Paris in 2009 without really noticing - I was just stating the obvious. I was told to pay attention to the 'green guy' by my ex's cousin-in-law (we were in London before Berlin). They crack me up. The red guy seems as though he's trying to give you a hug not stop you from walking across the street.
I have a shirt & 2 coasters that show these guys - there are Ampelmann Shops just to market them. Apparently they were the walk symbols in the former East Berlin during the cold war (proving that someone had a sense of humour). I read that there was a start to change them to the boring western walk symbols but were greeted with an uproar. Thank goodness! These are just too much fun not to keep around. Germans can be quite serious you know.
Below are my coasters. The black thick line is the dark reflection they make on my granite coffee table (I needed the black background for the actual 'guy' to really show them properly. They are made of thick felt & are basically decorative in my house. You can see christmas ornaments in the online store (which would be the cut out part of the coaster I have).
Here's a photo I stole from another site so you can see what they actually look like - I took photos but this is darker & very specific.
See, doesn't the red guy look like he wants a hug?
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