TAR21, Recap Leg 7, 11/11/12

Welcome to Leg 7! Last time, on It’s Nobody’s Business But the Turks, teams raced from Bangladesh to Turkey.  There was much scrubbing and serving and ice cream eating, but ultimately Rob and Kelley’s decision to take the subway instead of a taxi did them in.  Who will be eliminated. . . next? (click for more)

Arrival at the Pit Stop last episode:
1^st – Trey/Lexi, Sporty YDC 
2^nd – Abbie/Ryan, Sparkly YDC
3^rd – James/Abba, Team Rock of Ages
4^th – Natalie/Nadiya, Bollywood Twins 
5^th – Jaymes/James, Team Eye Candy 
6^th – Josh/Brent, The Fabulous Beekman Boys 

MV Savarona next to Kuruçeşme Cemil Topuzlu Parkı, Istanbul, Turkey

12:35 PM Trey/Lexi (1^st)
Clue: Fly to Moscow, Russia!  Once there, make your way to Zurab Tsereteli Sculpture Park to find your next clue.  You have $420  for this leg of the race.

Trey is convinced the race is helping his relationship with Lexi grow.  Lexi just wants a ring on her finger.  (Toyouke: “I don't like it when the girl in a relationship is all "I'm waiting for a ring, hee hee! No pressure!"”  Kmanpat: “And yet, you put up with it from me.” Toyouke: "Because you're saying it to me. No one is going around thinking I should get you a ring already.")

12:56 PM Abbie/Ryan (2^nd)

1:03 PM James/Abba (3^rd) 

1:44 PM Natalie/Nadiya (4^th) – who apparently have been getting by on their good looks.

1:55 PM Jaymes/James (5^th)

2:07 PM Josh/Brent (6^th)

Teams arrive at the airport in the following order:

 

1- Trey/Lexi – who have a hard time finding the Aeroflot counter.  (Toyouke: “Maybe the company that spells its name in Cyrillic might fly to Russia. LEXI.”)
2- Abbie/Ryan
3- James/Abba

4- Natalie/Nadiya  

5- Jaymes/James

6- Josh/Brent

Teams haggle for flights.  Eventually, the flights shake down as so:

The Amazing Blue Line: KLM Istanbul to Amsterdam to Moscow, arrives 2 AM

1)        James/Abba

2)        Jaymes/James

The Amazing Yellow Line: Turkish Air to Munich, Aeroflot to Moscow, arrives 4 AM

1)        Trey/Lexi

2)        Natalie/Nadiya

The Amazing Red Line: Turkish Air to Frankfurt, Aeroflot to Moscow, arrives 3:30 AM

1)        Abbie/Ryan

2)        Josh/Brent

And so, the flights take off.  After an hour delay for the Amazing Red Line, they finally take off to arrive in Frankfurt.  However, the delay cut their connection time, and the teams miss the last flight to Moscow.  They are now stuck flying to Warsaw in the morning to take a flight to Moscow getting them in at 3:10 PM.  It’s at this point that the teams make a pact to stick together for the rest of the leg.  (Toyouke: “What? Race together? That's stupid. You KNOW that team next to you is your competition. The only way to get a leg up is to get rid of them.  Also it requires trusting the other team won't screw you, and seeing as how I would screw the other team the first chance I got, I wouldn't trust anyone else.”  Auburnium0513: “The only saving grace about missing the flight is that there are 2 teams stuck.  It's a fight for last now.”)

So, eventually, teams arrive in Moscow in the following order:

1- Jaymes/James  
2- James/Abba  
3- Natalie/Natalia

4- Trey/Lexi   

5- Josh/Brent

6- Abbie/Ryan

Teams leave the airport and head to the Sculpture Park.  They arrive in the following order:

1- Jaymes/James  
2- James/Abba 
3- Natalie/Natalia

4- Trey/Lexi   

5- Josh/Brent

6- Abbie/Ryan

Teams find that there are Hours of Operation at the park, and it does not open until 9:30 AM.  (Toyouke: “Hmm. So there's one hours of operation. I wonder if another set will mysteriously appear later.”)  This gives some of the teams time to catch up, and they all enter and get their clues in the following order:

1- James/Abba  
2- Jaymes/James 
3- Trey/Lexi

4- Natalie/Natalia   

5- Josh/Brent

6- Abbie/Ryan

Teams are now instructed to travel to Moskvaretsky Most and find Ivan the Terrible’s guards in order to get their next clue.  Teams arrive in the following order:

1- James/Abba 
2- Trey/Lexi
3- Natalie/Nadiya

4- Jaymes/James   

5- Abbie/Ryan

6- Josh/Brent

And we get the Detour Clue.

DETOUR:
Alphabetized OR Synchronized 
*Alphabetized: Teams must travel to the Russian State Libraryand choose a librarian who will hand them a list of ten (10) books.  Teams must use the card catalog, written in Cyrillic, in order to locate FOUR (4) of the books, and then go and find them on the stacks.  Once all of the books have been approved by Olga the Librarian, she will give them their next clue.
*Synchronized: Teams travel to Trud Sports Complex and join the gold metal Russian Synchornized Swimming team in learning and performing a routine.  Once completed to the satisfaction of the coach, she will give them their next clue.

(Toyouke: “Both of these Detour choices are long.”  Auburnium0513: “Alphabetize in Cyrillic?  Hell no. The Boy would rather do that than swim, I don't know anymore, he made a good argument.”)

1- James/Abba choose Alphabetized – however, in the first Bald Snark of the season (that took a long time!), James and Abba quickly become frustrated and travel to Synchronized.  However, they get lost first, just for good measure.  Coach: “I’m already afraid.”

2- Jaymes/James choose Synchronized – and quickly get into their speedos and collars.  (Toyouke: “Jesus, take your damn collars off.”  Auburnium0513: “I'm not surprised that the Chippendales figured out the synchronized swimming.  They're dancers, and that's practically dancing in water.”)

3- Trey/Lexi choose Alphabetized

4- Natalie/Nadiya choose Synchronized – who get an instructor who doesn’t speak English.  (Toyouke: “OK, it's kind of an unfair advantage if the Chippendales get an instructor that speaks English and the twins don't.”)  Also, the girls do contemplate using the Express Pass, but the Chippendales talk them out of it.  (Toyouke: “I think in this case, because you can be pretty sure there are two teams far behind you, you shouldn't use your Express Pass. The boys have it right.”)

5- Abbie/Ryan choose Synchronized – because the library closed at 4 pm.

6- Josh/Brent choose Synchronized

Teams complete the detour in the following order:

1- Trey/Lexi 
2- Jaymes/James
3- Natalie/Nadiya

4- James/Abba   

5- Abbie/Ryan – who wait after completing for the other team to finish.  (Toyouke: “Oh, and now you're done and you're going to just stand around and watch them finish?! I love the Beekmans but seriously.”)

6- Josh/Brent

It’s about here that we start getting partial leg information.  So bear with me.

Teams are now instructed to take a taxi to Luzhkov Most to find the Trees of Love.  They arrive in the following order:

1- Trey/Lexi 
2- Jaymes/James
3- Natalie/Nadiya

4- James/Abba

Teams now get the seventh roadblock clue.

ROADBLOCK:

Who’s ready to unlock the future?

In this roadblock, roadblockers must use a keyring to unlock ten locks that secure a ribbon to one of the trees.  Once all ten locks are undone, teams will find their next clue inside the ribbon.

(Toyouke: “Shouldn't this properly be labeled a Switchback? Unlock locks?”  Kmanpat: “Except the last time we unlocked locks was TAR6, Leg 11, on a mountain in China.”)

The following teammates take the Roadblock:

1- Trey
2- James D.
3- Natalie

4- Abba

After much lock unlocking, teams complete the Roadblock in the following order:

1- Trey/Lexi 
2- Jaymes/James
3- Natalie/Nadiya

4- James/Abba – who, at this point, have stupidly left their stuff in a taxi, who has since left them at the Roadblock.  (Toyouke: “I think praying to get your stuff back is OK.”)

Teams now must look at their clue, a 100 ruble banknote, which has a picture of the Bolshoi Theater, the PIT STOP of the seventh leg of this racearoundtheworld.  (Toyouke: “I'd like to point out, we have government buildings on our money. Russia has a theater.”)  The last team to arrive MAY be eliminated!

Teams get to the Pit Stop in the following order:

1- Trey/Lexi – who win a trip for 2 to Maui.
2- Jaymes/James
3- Natalie/Nadiya

James and Abba are the fourth team to arrive, but they have to locate their stuff before they check in.  Josh and Brent are stuck at the Detour, and Abbie and Ryan have decided to wait for them.  Stay tuned. . .

ORDER NOW:
1^st – Trey/Lexi 
2^nd – James/Jaymes
3^rd – Natalie/Nadiya  
4^th – James/Abba
5^th – Abbie/Ryan
6^th – Josh/Brent

Next week: More Moscow!  James and Abba search for their passports.  Chippendale James twists his ankle, and Ryan keeps flunking a Russian test.  (Toyouke: “It looks like I will enjoy laughing at Ryan's failure.”)  Until next time!