Amazing Race 14: Romania is simply gorgeous

by Jamie Rhein on

Going to Bucharest, Romania from Salzburg, Austria doesn’t seem to be that difficult–unless you’re Tammy & Victor who were on the first flight out–that plane had engine troubles and returned to the airport–or Brad & Victoria who decided to take a gamble and fly to Amsterdam for an earlier flight possibility. Instead, they missed their connection. For everyone else, the trip was smooth.

What I noticed during this episode of Amazing Race 14 was that as teams criss-crossed each other, often ending up at the same place at the same time, they seemed to enjoy each other’s company. In my opinion, this is making this season’s race more fun to watch. I mean, my goodness, who wants crabbing in Salzburg? This episode also was a chance to take in Romania’s beauty while seeing how the show would tie in Romanian themes.

When the teams left Salzburg, they headed to Munich on the train with the goal of flying to Bucharest. The train trip was a piece of cake. Except for Victor & Tammy and Brad & Victoria, the flight was smooth as well. Because of their flight’s engine trouble, Victor & Tammy ended up on the second plane instead of being the only team on the first plane out.

Once in Bucharest, the first stop was the gymnastics hall where Olympic gold medalist Nadia Comaneci trained. Here one member from each team donned a leotard to learn parts to three routines: balance beam, parallel bars and floor exercises. Tammy had a time of it. Poor girl. She couldn’t do a cartwheel if she tried for a hundred years. Her somersaults weren’t much better. Luckily, she didn’t have to be perfect. I sympathized. I can’t even touch my toes. Never have been able to and never will.

One of Tammy’s problems was that she was so focused on how their first place status was gone that she wasn’t able to concentrate. As a metaphor for life, it’s hard to stay balanced if you’re not balanced.

After the gymnastics routine, it was off by train to Brasov, the town where the castle made famous by Dracula is located.

In Brasov, at Biserica Neagra, also called the Black Church, the teams found the clue to their next task. There were two from which to choose. One of tasks involved loading up a bunch of miscellaneous belongings, mostly junk, on a gypsy cart and hauling it to another location to unload it. The other task, hauling a coffin downhill and unlocking the chains to open it in order to get to the old wooden framed tablets inside, was at the grounds of Bran Castle of Dracula fame. To complete this task, each tablet was impaled Dracula-style on a stake in order to find the next clue. As the wooden tablets were impaled, blood spurted out which made for an unusual exercise.

At the gypsy settlement, while the teams struggled with their loads, gypsies looked on or did tasks similar to what one might see in a circus. Some played whimsical instruments. Gypsy life sure looks like fun. At least it does if the Amazing Race helps organize it.

The gypsy cart loading was a bit problematic for Mel & Mike because of Mel’s groin injury and the fact that the goods included part of a car and huge tires. But this father and son duo kept their good humor which helped.

Amanda & Cris had a minor setback when they couldn’t find the fanny pack with all their money and passports, but instead of freaking out too badly, they found it where they had unloaded their cart. One reason they were able to find it so quickly was Amanda’s calm demeanor. While Chris freaked out, Amanda said things like, “We’ll find it.” This helped maintain focus.

Victor & Tammy continued to have issues that kept them falling behind because of their interpersonal dynamics. Victor took them up the mountain in search for the coffins on the wrong path. No matter how much Tammy told them they were going the wrong way, he wouldn’t listen. Their game turned into Victor’s power struggle. Eventually he stopped pushing against reason and they headed back down the mountain to find the right trail. Unfortunately, one of the keys to the coffin came off as they dragged it, but Tammy kept calm giving them enough focus to find the key in the leaves. If I were this pair, I’d feel badly that a camera person was filming my every move.

This time it was Mike & Mel to arrive at the Pit Stop first. Their first place win granted them a trip to Costa Rica.

Brad & Victoria’s side trip to Amsterdam cost them. Brad, covered in red goo from impaling the tablets, and Victoria who was still smiling even though it was dark, took their elimination in good spirits. When they lost, I was thinking “You guys are going to love Thailand.” Ko Samui is the site of this year’s Elimination Station. Of course, it would be more enjoyable without having to lose a race in order to get there.

This episode made Romania look like an accessible and beautiful place to visit. An afternoon of wandering along cobblestone streets edged with architecturally interesting buildings would make for a visual treat. The mountains look perfect for hiking, particularly if you’re not on a race. Plus, The Pit Stop was at Villa Panoramic overlooking the castle. Not too shabby.

Photos from Amazing Race Website.

Phil Keoghan’s tour of Air New Zealand’s 747-400

by Jamie Rhein on



If you wondered if Phil Keoghan of the Amazing Race has the most awesome job, stop wondering. He does. Just look at this video. What could be more sweeter than this job?

Here Phil takes viewers on a tour of first class of Air New Zealand’s 747-400 at the Air New Zealand hanger at Los Angeles Airport. The plane was part of an Amazing Race publicity photo shoot. Here was Phil’s chance to look sort of James Bondish. Because Phil has flown to New Zealand on one of these planes twelve times this past year, he knows all the bells and whistles. The video is number one of Amazing Race 14’s “Phil’s Diary.” The videos are posted on the Amazing Race website and give a bit of back story as to what it takes to film the TV show.

Amazing Race 14: Recap 1, Swiss cheese is heavy

by Jamie Rhein on

When the teams took off for Switzerland from the Joint Forces Training Base in Los Alamitos, California after the Marine helicopter ride that took them there, you could feel the buoyancy and hear their glee. No matter the season, every team has a real can-do attitude at the beginning of the Amazing Race. Amazing Race 14 was no different. And just like every other season, some teams began to fall apart not long after they landed.

Jennifer and Preston missed their connecting train. She got crabby and he crabbed back. Later in the episode, Steve chastised Linda for being slow as they hoofed it to the Church of San Antonio in Locarno to meet up with a monk. Her slowness put them behind most of the other teams. Steve only made her weepier. As Linda pointed out, she would have gone faster if she could have. “I can’t run and I feel bad about it,” she sniffled. Good point. Who goes on the Amazing Race trying to be pokey?

When people are crabby and chastising when they travel, they miss the details. In Switzerland, one detail comes in snow-capped mountains, so gorgeous they can make you cry. Brad, choked up, for example, as he and Victoria sped through them on the train. It might of been the mountains, or maybe he was tired. Other details of Swiss travel had to do with bungee jumping and cheese.

First the bungee jumping. After a night of camping, fending off mosquitos, the teams headed a short distance from Locarno to Contra Verzasca Dam where James Bond made his bungee jumping leap in the movie Goldeneye. In nerves of steel daring, one team member from each team made the Bond jump, minus the music, in order to receive their next clue.

This is not just an Amazing Race opportunity. You can make the 220 meter, 70-story, jump yourself through the company Trekking Outdoor Team. It seriously looks like a blast for a person not afraid of heights. Interestingly, the person most afraid of heights was Jodi, one of the flight attendants. As we knew all along, even a person afraid of heights would be able to make the leap for the chance for a million dollars.

When the jumping was over, it was off via train to Interlaken and Kleine Rugen Wiese, a place with a slippery, grass covered hill and wheels of cheese at the top of it. Teams had to grab antique cheese racks, trudge to the top of the hill, one rack per member, to carry cheese–great big wheels of it that can bound and roll down a hill like nobody’s business when dropped–to the bottom using the racks in some way. What a hoot.

The antique racks looked rigged since almost everyone of them snapped like kindling wood. Making the task more difficult was avoiding getting bowled over by the escaped flying cheese, and the people chasing after it. To get a 50-pound cheese wheel down a hill, you can hold it in front of you in both arms, sit with it on your lap and scoot, put one wheel on each shoulder, or do a combination of all three. If you’re really smart, you’ll stack three cheese wheels on the rack and drag it down the hill like Steve did.

While the teams acted out this Abott and Costello-like scene, Swiss men stood at the bottom of the hill swigging some sort of beverage and laughing. Eventually, all cheese was stacked properly, and the teams were off once more to find yodelers at the pit stop in the town of Stechelberg. For a little while I thought that Steve and Linda, who call themselves endearments like “dumb asses” when frustrated, wouldn’t find the yoderlers, but eventually they came out of the woods where they had headed to land a 9th place finish.

The first place finishers were mother and son team, Margie and Luke. Both of them started to cry. So did 2nd place finishers, Tammy and Victor–even Phil looked teary. Tammy and Victor weren’t feeling emotional because they came in second by a hair–thus missed out on that swell trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. I think it was because the finish was so awesome indeed. Luke is deaf.

As Luke said, “A lot of people think deaf people can’t do things, but the deaf can do it. I just want to show people that deaf people can do it.” I’d say Victor and Tammy will get their share of first place prizes.

In a neck and neck finish, Christie and Jodi reached the Pit Stop mat before Jennifer and Preston. Although they were thrilled to stay in the race, the flight attendants did give the loosing team hugs, proving that flight attendants are indeed friendly. Preston promised Jennifer she did not let him down. Hey, they get to hang out for a couple weeks at some swank villa somewhere at the Elimination Station if this season is like the others. That’s not a bad deal.

The moral of this episode is, before you go on the Amazing Race, go to a train station. Jennifer had never been to one before. I think traveling at a break neck speed in unfamiliar territory is not the best place for a first time.

Where everyone has ended up so far:

  • 1st -Margie and Luke
  • 2nd -Tammy and Victor
  • 3rd – Mark and Michael
  • 4th – Mel and Mike
  • 5th – Amanda and Kris
  • 6th – Brad and Victoria
  • 7th – Cara and Jaime
  • 8th – Kisha and Jen
  • 9th – Linda and Steve
  • 10th – Christie and Jodi
  • 11th – Preston and Jennifer (Eliminated)

For a more detailed recap, check out the Amazing Race 14 website.

Amazing Race contestants: What does it take exactly?

by Jamie Rhein on

What does it take to get picked as an Amazing Race contestant team? In this Columbus Dispatch article, there’s some insight. Victoria Hunt, the female part of the Columbus-based married couple team–Brad and Victoria, who are competing in Amazing Race 14, tried out for Survivor several times.

She never made it onto Survivor, but when she showed the powers that be a photo of her husband, Victoria was bumped over to the Amazing Race with Brad in tow. It helps that both of them are attractive and fit. Like Victoria, hubby Brad is an exercise hound. Along with rock and ice climbing, he kayaks, mountaineers at high altitudes and power-lifts. Not only does he participate in marathons, he is in ultra-marathons. Frankly, it sounds as if he could answer the casting call for a good looking, silver-haired Batman.

As for Victoria, she is an avid skier, but I hope she has more experience than Ohio’s offerings. Snow Trails and Mad River Mountain are fun–but even I ski those, and I’m no skier.

According to Victoria, the show is looking for folks who “have an opinion” since this makes for interesting TV. Based on the article, I assume Brad and Victoria made it at least through a couple legs of the race. I wonder if they made it to Romania and Siberia, two new destinations this season? The filming started right after Halloween, spanning 40,000 miles and seven other countries.

For a rundown of the other Amazing Race 14 contestants, click here.

Amazing Race 14 starts tonight

by Jamie Rhein on

What already? Wasn’t it last week when my least favorite team Starr and Nick dashed across the finish line to win the million dollars? Nope. The end of Amazing Race 13 was in December. Tonight, Amazing Race 14 begins on CBS at 8:00 EST.

From a quick glance, I have two reasons to tune in:

One couple, married duo Brad and Victoria are from Columbus, Ohio. According to their bio, their motto is, “life is not a spectator sport and therefore you should always enjoy each moment that life gives you.” Each of them have overcome personal challenges. I’ll have to see how much I like them based on tonight’s episode. Regardless of them being from the city I live in, I’ve never met them. I’ve never seen them before in my life.

The other pair, Cara and Jaime caught my attention because of one of their names. The spelling is different. From reading Jaime’s bio, I’d say the spelling isn’t all that’s different. For one, the other Jaime used to be a cheerleader and I’ve never been able to touch my toes. These two are from Florida, and seem like lovely people, both inside and out. I give them a thumbs up so far.

The other nine teams are made up of an assortment of married, friends, siblings, parent/son and dating pairs.

  • Amanda and Kris are a young dating couple. I’m interested in Kris’s reactions to the world since he has not had the chance to travel much.
  • Christie and Jodi are flight attendant friends who met on the job. I wonder if they tune into Galley Gossip? If not, they should. With their combined travel savvy, I’d say these two are formidable contenders.
  • Preston and Jennifer, another dating couple, are from Columbia, S.C., a city where I lived for two years as a kid. What will make them a fun pair to watch (or possibly highly annoying) is their quest to see if they should break-up or stay together. They haven’t made up their minds yet. Who is ready for some bickering footage?
  • LaKisha and Jennifer, from their descriptions these two sisters from Brooklyn should provide some interesting TV. They haven’t traveled much outside the U.S. and have very different personalities.
  • Linda and Steve might be my favorite so far. From Martinsville, Virginia, they’ve traveled extensively and seem to be a non-traditional married couple who have found out how to live a good life.
  • Margie and Luke are a mother/son pair from Denver, Colorado who could also be my favorites to win. Luke is deaf and communicates with American Sign Language. I have a deaf brother-in-law and sister-in-law. What a great addition these two are to the line-up.
  • Mark and Michael are two brothers who are from Hawaii and California. Their backgrounds make them interesting contenders as well. Both of them are stunt men and one works as a jockey and the other has acting gigs. Because they are using the Amazing Race to work on their relationship, I expect some footage analyzing what makes brothers click or not click.
  • Mel and Mike are father and son with an atypical family history. Mel is gay. That’s not the atypical part. This should be an interesting team to watch.
  • Tammy and Victor are another sibling pair who are a cross between TK and Rachel and Starr and Nick. She’s the laid back one. He sounds like Nick. Both are lawyers with great smiles. He looks nicer than he sounds.

Let’s see how these teams do and how accurate their bios are. Personally, I like the mix of ages and that none of the teams sound particularly full of themselves. Hopefully, this season will do a great job of highlighting the countries where the teams headed. That’s my favorite part.

Here’s a link the preview video of Episode 1. My favorite line so far is “No use standing here looking like dumb asses.” (Or something like that). The first destination country is Switzerland. Cheese and bungee jumping are involved.