First things first: please note that the two old timers (Mark and DJ) finished in the top ten; old folk do stick around longer than people think they do. Now to the task at hand. What do we know? Probably this week there is more we do not know.
1. As the program begins we start where we left off last week in the plaza behind St. Basil's Cathedral: Eric and Jeremy with their hang dog expression on not winning some extra prize slink off toward the Russia House to finally open and read their clue (producers probably chased them away so that the teams coming in next would not see them reading a route marker envelope. Most likely finishing order is: Beach Boys, Lake and Michelle, Ray and Yolanda, Hippies, Old Folk, Mom and Daughter, Double Dees, Mo/Jo, and the Nerds. The first teams arrive just after sunset 4:30PM and it is much later and pitch black when the other teams arrive.
2. Now a big question mark: do the teams receive a clue to proceed to another site in Moscow for another clue or do they receive directions to proceed to Sheremetevo 2 Airport and arrange a flight to Frankfurt, Germany? If they are to go to the airport now, the first two teams just might be able to catch the 7:05PM Lufthansa flight bringing them to Frankfurt at 8:30PM. But traffic in rush hour in Moscow does not move, and security at the airport is as tight as any airport in Europe and usually requires passengers to check in at least two hours before departure due to extra precautions which are in place ever since the Checknya terrorists have been active. So it looks more likely that they will have to go somewhere else first. And there are a lot of sites the the Russian Tourist Bureau would want to feature which have not been shown so far. Just a few examples:
The Cathedral of the Redeemer and a really stunning interior.
The Puskin Museum of Fine Art with and excellent collection of French Impressionists
The Tretyakov Gallerey with the largest collection of Russian art in the world
The Museum of the Great Patriotic War (the Russian name for World War II) with its Hall of Memory and Sorrow, and Hall of Glory
But, of course, they may be given time just to go somewhere and rest (do some confessionals) before going to the airport at around 4:30AM in order to sign up for the 7:00AM Lufthansa flight no. LH 3189 which arrives in Frankfurt (FRA) at 8:25. Or they just go to the airport from St. Basil's square and sleep in the terminal (not too likely as security is really, really tight here).
3.Upon arrival in FRA, the teams are directed to the Frankfurt Flughafen Fernbahnhof and catch the first ICE-T train south to Stuttgart. Trains leave about every 30 minutes for the 1 hour 13 minute trip. These are very comfortable and fast (300kph) with airplane reclining seats, and reserved seats (what a change from India! and no chance of the Double Dees being groped here!)
4. Arriving in Stuttgart, teams hire taxies to take them to the headquarters of Mercedes Benz in the suburb town of Untertuerkheim. Here in the parking area in front of the main building they find their next clue: get in one of the Mercedes parked there with a "professional" driver and windshield mounted camera, and take a spin on the high speed, high banked, world famous test track at speeds exceeding 120 miles an hour!! Thrillsville!!
5. Completing the spin (hoping their pants are still dry) the teams are given their next clue. Either they take the car they have been in, or they get into new Mercedes. They are told to drive toward Munich on the autobahn A8 and take the Guenzburg Exit. This is about a 45 minute drive. Now it looks like some of the teams miss the exit and have to back track up the autobahn. (Which accounts for the sun being in some of their faces since they would be going West toward the sun and not East away from the afternoon sun). Possible it is Mom and Daughter who mess up, followed by the Double Dees, and perhaps another team or two. Our clue seems to indicate tht one team leads just another one in the wrong direction.
6. Guenzburg is the site of LegoLand Deutschland and this may be our destination; or it could just be some rural village in the area since we have a nice shot of a typical Bavarian church and small town as our car drives along a narrow two lane country road. Anyway here is the site for the ROADBLOCK (the clue about the lost driver says "on the way to the roadblock") There is no real idea what they have to do, but they all do seem to end up holding a Travelocity Gnome So it is "Find the Gnome" once again.. We had this one before in Turkey (?) and the teams had to carry it with them until the pit stop. And we do see it sitting on the side later on. The only one we see doing the task is Tyler with BJ on the sidelines cheering him on!!
7. Completing the task here they are directed to drive again on the autobahn A8 until the reach the southern suburb of Munich, Geiselgasteig, where they have to locate the Bavaria-Filmstadt Studios (commonly known as Hollywood on the Isar, where such films as E.T., The Neverending Story, Enemy Mine, Das Boot, and Cabaret were filmed).
8. Now we get our DETOUR. One taskSLAP IT is to learn and successfully dance the Schuhplattler this is the slap the theigh, slap the foot, etc. dance done to omp pah pah music. And of course you will have to get decked out in Lederhausen first! The only ones we see doing it our our loveable old folk. The other taskBASH IT is the opportunity to crash a certain number of sugar bottles on your partner's head, or until a clue falls out of one of them and this could take a long time since there are hundreds and hundreds of bottles to be broken, but with a little bit of luck and a strong head a team might finish the task fast. We see the Beach Boys, Mo/Jo,and the Hippies and at least one other team doing this. We only see Ray and Michelle getting into Lederhausen but we do not see which task they do. It is here that we see Ray's Travelocity Gnome on the floor next to him.
9. At the end of this task, our teams head to the pit stop. What is one of the most famous spots in Munich? THE HOFBRAUHAUS the famous site of the October Fest! Or the Altes Rathaus, or perhaps the Residenz. Who knows. But it is pretty certain that we will lose our third team this week. Who goes? My guess is that we lose the Nerds: David and Lori. Who comes in first? My guess again is BJ and Tyler (have to stick with the Man from Harvard!)
One little added note for those who may be curious about the cuckoo clock. The Black Forest or Schwarzwald is an area of dense pine woods to the west of Stuttgart along the Rhine River around Feldberg, Baden-Baden, and Triberg.