It started innocently enough: the table was set, the wine chilled, the rolls from Jung Bäckerei ready to go, and a white ceramic Easter bunny surrounded by colourful chocolate eggs decorated our table. The arco team gathered in high spirits for the Easter lunch.
First, the colourful Easter eggs were hunted down around the office. Some were easy to spot, others less so — the hollow inside of the decorative bunny proved to be a particular favourite hiding spot.
Then came the traditional egg-tapping contest, a Swiss Easter classic. Egg against egg, until one lone winner was left standing with an uncracked shell. With rolls, savoury pastries, fresh salads and plenty of Easter chocolate, there was much toasting and feasting to be done. And of course, an Easter cake to round things off.
Whether it was Pingu who started the conversation, or the Easter bunny on the table, remains unclear to this day. What is certain: at some point the whole team was talking about Kasperlitheater, Jim Knopf and Barbapapa. Somewhere between carrot sticks, hummus and egg salad, the conversation drifted into childhood memories.
Pingu got things going, then came Jim Knopf and Barbapapa, and eventually the darker side of children's literature. Struwwelpeter was dug up, as was Suppenkaspar, who grew thinner by the week for refusing to eat his soup. The collective question around the table: who on earth thought this was appropriate for children?
It was one of those conversations you never plan and afterwards wouldn't want to have missed. Connecting, slightly absurd and somehow exactly right for a lunch just before the holidays.
The rolls from Jung Bäckerei were, by the way, excellent. Not a single Suppenkaspar in sight.