Tiptoeing through entraced whirling dervishes in Turkey. Awesome. Driving a double-decker bus in London. Frustrating. Seeing a Pageant Queen without her make-up on. Priceless.
Those were a few of the highlights of this leg of The Amazing Race. The lowlight? How could 2 of them teams NOT KNOW what Abbey Road was?
Off to a good start: Lead Teams Uchenna & Joyce and Gretchen & Merideth made their way threw the white-robed Dervishes in Istanbul to get their first clue: fly to London. Off they went to the airport and quickly settled for a direct flight that landed at 10:30 am the next day. Later, Rob & Amber and Ron & Kelly chose to risk their luck by taking a connecting flight through Frankfurt that would land them in London at 9 am, more than an hour and a half ahead of the lead teams.
Even though they were on stand-by, the connecting flight gamble paid off for both teams. Ron & Kelly begged for money in Istanbul, and Kelly the beauty queen who had her make-up taken away from her by Phil, actually asked to borrow lipstick from the female clerk at the airport. Eeeewww! Sharin' a tube of lipstick like that? There are some things you just don't hand over to a stranger ...
In London, Ramber headed off for Paddington Station and nabbed a local named Stuart who was more than happy to spend half the day with them and guide them to Abbey Road and the street crossing made famous by the Beatles on the cover of their album, Abbey Road. I can totally see that guy offering to help them. I'd do it. If somebody came up to me and said they were in "The Amazing Race" for $1 million dollars and had a cameraman in tow to prove it, I'd be calling my boss on the phone "Um, so sorry, can't make it in to work today! Gotta blaze with some TV people. Bu-Bye!" I'd so do it.
After Abbey Road, the teams went to the London Eye, the snail's pace 40-story Ferris Wheel on the banks on the Thames. While riding the Eye, they were then to scan the skyline looking for their next clue. It was edited to make us think that they had trouble finding it through fog and 360 degree view and all that, but phfft, that thing moves sooooo slowly I'm surprised they didn't show ANOTHER raging row between Ron and Kelly high above London. That bitch rags him constantly.
The Detour gave the teams a choice between Brains or Brawn. In Brains, they raced around London from Hammersmith to Baker Street, decifering clues to lead them to the home & museum of legendary fictional detective Sherlock Holmes.
After the trip to Baker's Street, lead team Rob/Amber made their way to Millenium Park where they smartly yielded Ron/Kelly who were then forced to wait an hour before they could continue. In a rare display of personality, Kelly took the time to draw mustaches, horns, and comments on the photo of Rob & Amber.
For Brawn, teams went to Battersea Park, where they had to transport five 160 pound boats from the lake to a storage area 500 yards away to earn their next clue. Gretchen/Merideth and Uchenna/Joyce chose the harder task of hauling boats but both seemed to finish quickly.
In the Roadblock, one team member had to drive a red double-decker bus through a marked course without hitting any cones and successfully parking it. If they hit a cone, the bus would be reset to the beginning of the course and they would have to start again. All of the drivers (Rob, Ron, Merideth, and Joyce) took an hour or more to complete the task and all had to start over multiple times.
Rob and Amber made it to the Pit Stop at Potter's Field first and won another nice prize: a JVC Home Entertainment System. Rob's luck continues as he's won several legs now where prizes have been awarded while Uchenna/Joyce have won 2 legs but didn't prizes. Bummer.
Even though the late teams caught up to Ron/Kelly, they were able to jump in a cab and head to a second place finish. The make up-less Kelly (She's gonna hate to see that acne showing when the show airs!) ripped into Ron. She said he was rude during the roadblock and told him she didn't like his attitude that he could do the task better. Fully believing that he could drive the bus better than she had, he said then "let's turn the taxi around" and he'd prove it to her. Kelly dismissed him by saying, “Maybe we can lose the Race to let you go back and be a man.? (Could he be arrested for gouging her eyes out in London? I don't think so.)
Uchenna & Joyce pulled in third and the old couple, Gretchen & Merideth, were last (again) but this time they were eliminated. FINALLY! Next week is the 2-hour race to the finish for the remaining three teams. It's gonna ROCK!
