Phils Blog puts this EP @ Saturday Nov 12th
EPISODE 3
Long flight ahead as we travel to Russia. About 11 hours to Frankfurt and then a tight connection to Moscow. We were last in Russia in season 5 when we went to St. Petersburg. Who will ever forget the caviar? You couldn’t find a cracker big enough for that serving. The teams are in for a treat in Moscow; we have some excellent challenges waiting for them.
What’s always interesting about coming back to Russia is seeing the increasing Western influence. Franchises such as McDonald’s have been around for awhile, but there are more and more new companies and brands making their way into the country. However, despite all the commercialism, there is a certain look that will never disappear. The distinctive architecture…hopefully, that will be around forever.
The hotel we’re staying at has this incredible view of the restaurant. Wish I could see it from my room, too…instead I can see and hear a dozen Russian made air condition units…looks like my airplane earplugs will be coming in handy tonight. Right next to the hotel is an Olympic clothing store, some excellent stuff, but crazy prices…$300 for a sweatshirt. Food on the other hand is very cheap…and good. Found a very tasty beef stroganoff with rice for about $3.
The teams are really going to notice the temperature difference after Brazil. Teams should be arriving in about 10 minutes. We managed to get ahead of them on this leg and have the Detour shot. We are at the bus station where they have a choice to scrub the buses. The other choice is the Russian dolls. . Everybody is ready for the teams. There are so many people involved in making things happen. When the teams come through everything just has to work--period. In any given season there are upwards of 2,000 people involved in making a show work. Producers, researchers, transcribers, translators, drivers, PAs, security people, etc.
Off to the Roadblock. Right on schedule to stay ahead of the teams before getting to the Pit Stop. The pool is awesome. An outdoor facility in the dead of winter. Steam everywhere. We had some extra time to shoot the stand-up today. The swimwear sure is different here. Speedos, or whatever the local brand is here, seem to be compulsory for the men. It’s just not a good look on everyone. There are some incredible physiques here, but there are some who have been eating up to prepare for the long winter. From a distance, with all the folds, it’s hard to tell if anything is being worn at all. The only real give away is that it breaks up the pattern of hair. Still I think board shorts would look a bit out of place here.
The women are displaying a plethora of designs covering ever major influence from the past 100 years. One pieces, two pieces, the ones that barely join up and designs that only make it into the sale bin…i.e. the suits no one wanted to buy.
I’m in a small tent right now, just over 30 degrees in the tent, set up to keep us warm while we wait for the teams to arrive. The local producers have a heater going for us. There is also some soup available, as well as a local dish of mashed potatoes with a serving of meat on top. We are right next to St. Basil Cathedral, a 16th century building with the famous spirals and stunning colors. Next to that is the Kremlin, which was set up to house the Russian government.
Just got word we have teams coming to us so I got as much food in before heading out to the mat.
Today is Saturday, and there are dozens of wedding parties out having their photos taken. They all look so young. Clearly the drinks have been flowing…actually, they still are. One group has a bottle of wine out and is pouring glasses for everyone. I can’t get over how undressed the locals look. There’s a guy close by wearing a long sleeve cotton shirt with a reasonably thin sports coat and that’s it. The rest of us are wearing pretty much every article of winter clothing we own.
It’s just magic to watch the light change during the afternoon and into the night. In the end the teams ended up coming in very close together. Love that. Being a virtual Pit Stop, I had fun with some of the teams today. Lake & Michelle were extremely excited to hear that they were in second place and then shocked to find out they had to keep going. Fran & Barry have moved up in the order, Dave & Lori have moved to the back of the pack and were extremely relieved to hear they are still in it. Some really emotional arrivals today. They give so much to each leg that the idea of having to maintain the Race mode is really tough for some teams. http://www.cbs.com/primetime/amazing_race9/shows/ep03/phil/blog/