<p>I started out not liking Max and Katie. But I have to say HE has grown on me - I think it’s because, for me, the other couples are kind of boring so I at least enjoy Max’s sarcasm and humor. Katie is fully “blah”. Don’t get them as a couple! Even when they won TWO cars last night, she basically had NO reaction- even after she mentioned in the episode that she hoped they could win and that she hoped they could win two cars!!! </p>
<p>The maze in the club would have totally freaked me out - I don’t do well in small closed spaces. But then again, I would have already quit at the Park Inn cause I would have never have walked off that building!!!</p>
<p>Well, I would have been out at that task on the Eiger! Looking at them out on that little platform last night gave me that weird feeling in my stomach that I get with heights. Just watching on tv! :)</p>
<p>This season has touched on my fears over and over…heights, falling and enclosed spaces. I would have been a mess in the Salon challenge. However, that maze of bizarre was indeed “a trip”. Holy smoking Annie! </p>
<p>Gonna say it, I am now officially rooting for the YouTube kids. Maybe because I am a parent of an off-beat kid, whose friends are just like these kids; kooky, enthusiastic and a wee bit nerdy all rolled into one. I really appreciate that they don’t squabble, they are just having a good time.</p>
<p>And yes, sick and tired of the Country Girls and the Hockey Guys “love” affair. </p>
<p>What happened to Hockey Guy’s backpack? Where were all the crew? Sleeping I suppose like the cast members. But how does a large backpack just get off a train? He was lucky he still had his passport. </p>
<p>In other seasons the tasks in Germany have always been interesting and this episode didn’t disappoint for me. More physical than mental challenges (I personally like the mental/luck challenges) but it was interesting.</p>
<p>Arisamp, they initially tried the “letter” challenge, but one bro broke his letter - rather than starting over they decided to switch tasks which contributed to the delay.</p>
<p>The backpack thing was weird - exactly what I thought - it’s one thing when you LOSE your stuff for the camera crew to not say anything but I find it hard to believe that no one - contestants or crew didn’t open an eye to see someone grab the backpack!</p>
<p>I don’t think either DH or I would’ve done that fall off the hotel. That was crazy.</p>
<p>I’m assuming that contestants are told to keep their passports on them, not in their backpacks. Backpacks can disappear like on the train last night or in a cab that doesn’t wait, etc.</p>
<p>I’m not sure who my favorite team is at this point. I usually have one by now, but not this race. I seem to change my mind about teams each leg.</p>
<p>I wonder why Max/Katie seemed to arrive at the cars seemingly well before the others even though they all arrived on the train at the same time.</p>
<p>It’s pretty bad some contestants had to go ask people in the bar, presumably Germans, to identify who made the statement ‘Ich bin ein Berliner’ when the person who said it was a US president. Did you notice at least one person in the bar wanted nothing to do with the cameras or being asked questions?</p>
<p>It was just stupid to leave the letter standing on edge (I assume) such that it could fall over and break so easily. That made no sense. And how do you lose a backpack? It appeared that the camera zoomed in on it in one shot but I’m not sure if that was his. Maybe the hockey guys need to shift their attention from the girls to the tasks.</p>
<p>TrixieAnn wrote “How funny was it when most of the contestants were horrified by the maze but the You Tube kid loved it and wanted to do it again sometime.”</p>
<p>YES! I was truly endeared by the statement “We have got to come back here and do that together sometime!” Pure joy. Makes me smile just thinking about it. :)</p>
<p>I have missed the last two weeks, but I am so happy the YouTube couple is still in it! They are my favorites. Always happy, smiling and having fun! Max and Katie have to go! I haven’t liked them from the start and they haven’t grown on me either! The YouTube couple is the only couple I’ve really enjoyed since BJ and Tyler won in Season 9. BJ and Tyler are my all time favorite contestants!</p>
<p>Love the amazing race and glad that this season they are at least doing some amazing things…like skydiving in Bali (beautiful) or free flying (or whatever its called) off that building last night. Even the maze was kind of different and cool. I like the hockey guys, but the team that is really starting to grow on me are the You-Tube couple. The guy use to annoy me but I actually am enjoying his enthusiasm. Meghan is cute. She actually has a blog that she talked about her adventure a couple of weeks ago. It was the one with the baby goats in the boat. She was talking about how she had to pee the entire time, and she thought she would just do it and blame it on the goats, but then decided against it. Then she thought in the water taxi she could just do it and blame it on the puddles in the boat but she didn’t. She “held” it through the donkey challenge and all the way onto the mat when Phil didn’t tell them if they were eliminated or not (he talked to the Alabama couple first so she thought they did something wrong.) It was hilarious. I saw the link on the realitytv Amazing Race (strawberry something). Definitely worth watching!</p>
<p>But their ignorance is absolutely staggering! Confusing the Berlin Wall with the Great Wall of China? And their first response to one of the questions was Roosevelt. Really??? The young Germans knew all the answers and the young Americans didn’t!</p>
<p>And perhaps my age is showing here, but I was a bit flabbergasted by one couple’s reaction to Dresden - “What a quaint little town!” Good lord - didn’t any of them study history??? </p>
<p>About the “missing” backpack - there was indeed a camera shot of several backpacks on the overhead rack on the train. Made me wonder if someone hadn’t moved the backpack up there and then forgot to mention it. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was there the whole time, and he just got off the train without it.</p>
<p>I could tell it was going to come down to roller derby moms and YouTube…sorry to see them go just because they had such a good attitude. I don’t know how much “skill” or “good strategy” any of these teams have - just some luck or a worse team behind you that you can beat! </p>
<p>The hockey players are lucky they are athletic and strong - that is what has got them a couple of wins for sure - could you believe the one carrying that barrel on his back???!!</p>
<p>On the whiskey rolling task…were they told they had to roll the barrels? I was thinking the brothers would get penalized for not rolling the way Chuck and Wynona got penalized for rolling the cheese instead of using the sleds.</p>
<p>^^ I was wondering the same thing on the barrels but they weren’t penalized so the directions must not have specified it must be rolled.</p>
<p>I was wondering about the couple of teams at the Lufthansa counter at the airport. That pretty much limits your options to just what that one carrier has to offer which is why those teams ended up on a later flight. They should have at least asked the Lufthansa rep if there were ANY other earlier flights by ANY carrier and the rep would have either told them about the flight or just said they can only talk about Lufthansa flights and then they would’ve known to check around. That was a basic strategic/practical mistake (i.e. dumb mistake) on the part of those teams.</p>
<p>The whiskey rolling clue said that they had to deliver the barrels, no mention of having to roll them.</p>
<p>I thought it was a fun leg and lovely to see part of Scotland. The roller derby moms did a great job this week. Megan and Joey were a cute team, and fun to watch. It’s always nice when a team seems to be having such a good time on the race. Season finale next week. This season has flown by! This summer is the first season of TAR Canada, so at least I won’t need to wait too long for my next fix. :)</p>
<p>^^ I didn’t know there was a Canadian version of TAR. Is it pretty much the same thing as the USA version but with a whole different set of destinations/players?</p>
<p>Okay, so based on my many years of watching this show, here’s my list of Amazing Race pre-requisites (astounding how many contestants are missing one or more):</p>
<ol>
<li>Experience driving a stick shift–don’t just learn a week before the show starts.</li>
<li>Strong stomach and weak gag reflex–you never know what you might have to eat or drink.</li>
<li>The ability to use a GPS and a map and to follow oral directions.</li>
<li>No claustrophobic tendencies–you may be squished in a tiny car or on crowded public transportation with your partner AND a camera operator.</li>
<li>Excellent walking/hiking shoes that you’ve broken in before the start of the race.</li>
<li>Lots of swimming/diving experience–if water scares you, stay home.</li>
<li>No fear of heights, none whatsoever–you’ll surely be doing something up high.</li>
<li>Good upper body strength–useful in many tasks.</li>
<li>The ability to keep calm and carry on despite traffic jams, confusing signs, dumb taxi drivers, sweat, grime, hunger, thirst, airport snafus, a cranky or tearful partner, and the fact that not everyone in another country will speak English or understand your pantomimes.</li>
<li>A fondness for animals, especially smelly ones.</li>
<li>The fortitude to not blame, berate or humiliate your partner when things go wrong (even when it’s clearly his/her fault).</li>
<li>No ugly American stuff–none.</li>
<li>Some basic understanding of world geography.</li>
<li>An appreciation for the wonders of our world and its inhabitants.</li>
<li>A boatload of common sense.</li>
</ol>
<p>I think endurance is another one. Some start out strong at the beginning of a challenge but are dragging by the end. Being able to pace yourself and have endurance is good. </p>
<p>Speaking lot of foreign languages would be good too! </p>
<ul>
<li>Attention to detail when reading the roadblock/challenge instructions.</li>
<li>Ability to navigate an airport, look up available flights, knowing what questions to ask a travel agent or airline rep.</li>
<li>A good memory for some of the details of the roadblocks/destinations for the final challenge since it often requires that recollection.</li>
</ul>