Germans love spending free time in the great outdoors, and one of the more interesting things to do here is to walk a Barefoot Path. There are 10 of these Barefoot Paths in our state alone, ranging from the length of a basketball court to a 2-mile hike. For Father’s Day, we did one of the 2-milers in a town called Bad Sobernheim, and it was probably the longest I’d ever walked in bare feet (insert Kentucky jokes here). You get to walk through pits of cork pieces, gravel, large stones, mud, and freezing cold water. Some of the paths go over different surface materials – sandstone, lava, basalt, brick, and round stones. Still other stations are Parcours-like – swinging bridges, balance beams, and log rolling. But the best part was fording the river that runs through the course – a swift current, stones to navigate underneath, and swinging rope handles made it one of the highlights of our day, if not the year!

After navigating the self-propelled ferry boat at the finish, we were delighted to find that a biergarten and ice cream stand were part of the attraction. Go Germans! And it felt so good to sit there, still shoeless, with toes tingling and arches feeling delightfully stretched out. I really recommend this kind of true German experience!

20 Days, 20 German Towns: Bad Nauheim – Rüdesheim – Königstein – Travemünde – Cologne – Garmisch-Partenkirchen – Bad Soden – Mainz – Wiesbaden – Berlin – Schwangau – Frankfurt – Bad Homburg – Hamburg – Rust – Langenargen – Bad Sobernheim