Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf | schwingeninswitzerland

I have been remiss. I let a Swiss holiday pass without so much as a word. My apologies. In my defense, until a few days ago, I wasn’t even aware that Turbosieste National Day existed. For those of you who don’s speak French, it means “National Powernap Day”. What a holiday!

How do you celebrate Turbosieste ( aka Turboschlaf in German and Turbosieste in Italian) National Day? Powernapping in public places.

Courtesy of http://www.BuzzillaBlog.com

Powernapping in private is also a common and acceptable (and common) means of celebrating. On March 14, 2012 from 2:00 – 2:15 p.m. everyone in Switzerland was asked to stop what they were doing for a 15 minute nap!

Driving can be dangerous and is even more so on the steep and windy roads that cut through Switzerland’s mountains. Driver fatigue is the cause of 10-20% of the accidents here. To prevent driver fatigue and avoid accidents, the Swiss launched a public service campaign. It encourages pulling off to the side of the road to nap when tired.

I’m not sure that people would feel safe sleeping roadside or at a rest area in the US. Michael Jordan‘s father was famously murdered while napping at a rest area in the US. However, Switzerland is quite safe and there isn’t much danger of being robbed or killed roadside. It is the number one country for the powernap (yet another reason to come visit).

Click here for a short video about the Turbosieste on YouTube.

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In a country where personal responsibility, obeying the rules and money are all taken very seriously, fines are inevitable. We have heard that you need to budget 1000-2000 CHF a year for fines. Thankfully, we’ve only had one ticket thus far.

Here, a diverse array of behaviors are punishable by fine. Here are some interesting Swiss fines:

Highest speeding ticket in Switzerland (tickets are on a percentage of income)
Naked hiking (instead of banning it, they just decided to fine naked hikers…uber Swiss)
Entering a private drive
Putting your recyclables in the bins on a Sunday or holiday

Leaving tire marks on the floor of a parking garage
Merely entering the first class train car with a second class ticket
Taking bribes if you are a FIFA official
Pointing your laser at a helicopter (I am not making this up)
Not picking up after your dog (Unfortunately, this does not seem to be strictly enforced; we don’t see many policemen on the streets.)

Driving on a Swiss highway without a sticker on your car (that you buy from the Swiss government at the border)
Violating Bank Secrecy
Refusing to let your daughters attend swimming classes at school
Being a soccer hooligan
Having a political slogan (Tourism Equals Jobs) on a professional soccer team jersey
Claiming Anne Frank’s diary was a fake