Dec 25 2007
Just a Bus and Ferry Ride Away
Teams are instructed to take a bus, and then a ferry to Ancona, Italy.
The Ferry Equalizer
The first three teams to depart (Ronald/Christina, Kynt/Vyxsin and Nathan/Jennifer) seemingly had a good lead on TK/Rachel and Nicolas/Donald as they were able to get on the first bus out of Dubrovnik. However, once at the port city of Split in Croatia, all the teams ended up on the same ferry ride across the Adriatic Sea to Italy, and it was an all-out race once again.
Reference Points
It was interesting to note how people use things as a reference point when Ronald idly wondered about the word, 'Prego' (which means 'You're welcome' in Italian), remarking, 'Isn't prego a spaghetti sauce?'
Empoli Bound with a Blackberry
In Ancona, teams were instructed to drive themselves to Empoli, Italy and were given a Blackberry. Teams were told that they'd be receiving a message during their drive on their Blackberry devices but warned against using the device for anything else.
All Roads Go Through Rome?
Nathan/Jennifer (adulterous dating couple) decided to head to Empoli via Rome, which turned out to be a propitious decision, as the other teams, who took the Empoli via Florence route, ran into a closed road, forcing them off the highways and into uncertain back roads.
Where's the Clue?
Dating couple TK/Rachel ran into trouble on their drive to Empoli early when Rachel discovered that she couldn't find their clue. Realizing that they needed the clue in order to know where to go once they reached Empoli, they conducted a frantic search for it in the car and then finally had to drive back to the café where they had stopped earlier for directions. Fortunately, they were able to retrieve their clue from a café patron.
A Little Text of Encouragement
The message on the Blackberry turned out to be messages from the racers’ loved ones and all of them seemed to really enjoy the little bit of encouragement from home as the race headed for the home stretch.
Ultralighting the Tuscan Countryside
The Roadblock required a racer to ride a contraption called an ‘ultralight’ which is best described as a hybrid between a go-cart and a hang-glider. Once the racer is airborne, the racer must scour the Tuscan countryside for a clue hidden in the landscape. The clue was white letters in a farm field that spelled out 'Vinci.' TK had tremendous trouble finding the clue, and although he was the second one to go airborne, he finished the task dead last.
Lost and Not Loving It
Kynt/Vyxsin, the dating goth couple, who were forced off the highway because of the closed road to Florence, ended up very, very lost and arrived last, and very stressed at the Roadblock. But thanks to TK's struggle with locating the word clue, they managed to not fall too far behind.
Leaving a Mark
The Fast Forward made an appearance during this leg, and Nicolas/Donald (grandson/grandfather duo) decided to take it. However, once they arrived at the task, Donald had serious reservations as it turned out that the task would require them to get real, permanent tattoos of the letters 'FF' (for fast forward) on their arms. In the end, Donald finally agreed, although he did note that he'd never thought he'd get a tattoo at his age.
Old Behavior
Ronald, racing with his daughter Christina, seemed to be making an effort to curb his negative, demoralizing behavior toward his daughter, but old habits apparently die hard and his jerkiness did rear its ugly head at times. In particular, he started screaming at her when they couldn't located the numbers card to denote their placement on the Roadblock task - loudly enough for Rachel to comment on how awful his treatment of Christina was.
Forward to First
Thanks to their successful completion of the Fast Forward, Nicolas/Donald were first on this leg, and won a trip to Cancun.
Mixed Up Priorities
Jennifer was complaining at one point that she was upset that Nathan didn't want to do the Fast Forward, stating that they had yet to win a leg. Jennifer has been oddly focused on winning a leg. Does she not realize that winning a leg is not the point of this race? It’s winning the final leg that matters and the only way to do that is to just stay in the race until the end? Look at Azaria/Hendekea, who won 3 legs before they were eliminated last week. We would bet. . .oh, a million dollars. . .that Azaria/Hendekea would happily trade in those ‘winning legs’ for a chance to still be racing. In short, get your priorities in order and shut it Jennifer!
Invention versus Tradition
The Detour required teams to either recreate a replica of Leonardo Da Vinci's crane (invention) or to perform a flag tossing routine (tradition). Only TK/Rachel decided to complete the invention task, and performed it very well. The other teams performed the flag tossing routine (think school marching bands and color guards) with little trouble.
If It Wasn't for Bad Luck. . .
. . .TK/Rachel and Kynt/Vyxsin wouldn't have had any luck at all on this leg of the race. On top of the already rough race they were having on this leg, Kynt/Vyxsin had car trouble and had to wait for a replacement car, which arrived while they were performing their Detour task so they didn't lose too much time. Meanwhile, TK/Rachel encountered a flat tire while driving to the pit stop.
Bumpy Road Ahead
Kynt/Vyxsin were the last team to arrive, but a little bit of luck finally found them as it was a non-elimination leg. However, unlike past races where the last team in a non-elimination leg were either stripped of their possessions or 'marked for elimination,' this race has a new twist. Phil informed Kynt/Vyxsin that they would have to perform a task called a 'Speed Bump' on the next leg, which is a task only they'd be required to perform - kind of like a bonus task, or in this case, a 'punishment task' for coming in last. They won't know when they'd have to perform this task, so they should be on the top of their game on the next leg. Frankly, we're intrigued by this new twist and can't wait to see how Kynt/Vyxsin deal with it.
