Amazing Race update – Gypsies, tramps and Phil

Here's another week with a West Coast NASCAR race that has to compete with the start of the Amazing Race. Well, I'll try to flip back and forth.

The nine remaining teams started out from Salzburg and find their way to Bucharest, Romania and a gymnastics studio. Tammy & Victor hit their connections in perfect sync and take what appears to be a significant lead. Whoops! Spoke too soon: the flight that Team Esquire is on has "issues" and has to return to the airport. They miss the next earliest flight and now leave five hours later with a bunch of other teams. That's bad luck. Brad & Victoria roll the dice on a flight through Amsterdam but they miss their connecting flight.

Once at the gym, it's a Roadblock: one team member must do some gymnastics. The funny "aren't they uncoordinated?" music starts and the Racers don uniforms to go through their motions. Kris of Team America looks good and finishes first. Teams now have to head to Brasov, Transylvania but it looks like everybody's bunched up at the train station. The next morning, everybody's on the train except Brad & Victoria who are still stuck in Amsterdam and are almost certainly going to come in last on this leg.

Once in Transylvania, it's the Detour: Gypsy Moves or Vampire Remains. Teams may either move a gypsy camp down the road or drag a coffin through the woods and impale some wood onto stakes (in honor of Vlad the Impaler). Victor leads Tammy down the wrong path to the Vampire task by following markers for a trail and not for the Amazing Race. They're way up a mountain in Romania. Meanwhile, after moving the gypsies, it looks like Kris lost his fanny pack with Team America's passports and money. Eventually they find it and head off to the Pit Stop.

A pan flutist waits at the Romanian Pit Stop where Mel & Mike come in first. Back at the Detour, Tammy & Victor are so far up the mountain, they're going to need oxygen masks soon; nevertheless Victor insists they're on the right path. Tammy isn't buying it, for good reason. Could Brad & Victoria catch up?

Nah. Tammy & Victor finally figure out they're going down the wrong path and eventually complete the Vampire Detour. Brad & Victoria finish in the dark and are eliminated at the mat.

Team standings:

#1 – Team White Guys – Mel & Mike
#2 – Team America – Amanda & Kris
#3 – Team Sistahs - Kisha & Jen
#4 – Team Say What? - Margie & Luke
#5 – Team Mighty Mites - Mark & Michael
#6 – Team Drinkcart - Christie & Jodi
#7 – Team Ginger - Jaime & Cara
#8 – Team Esquire - Tammy & Victor
#9 – Team Something - Brad & Victoria

Next week – Siberia.