After their mandatory rest period in Vilnius, Lithuania, the six remaining teams worked on getting to their next destination: Dubrovnik, Croatia.  The first two couples, TK/Rachel and Kynt/Vyxin, made it to the airport within minutes of each other.  Since it was still very early in the morning, the teams collaborated on their internet research.  Although Kynt discovered that Czech Airlines had the first flight out, he chose to continue searching.  Meanwhile, TK and Rachel opted to wait in front of the closed Czech Airlines office.

Instead of heading directly to the Vilnius Airport, Christina and Ronald chose to use a hotel phone to make flight reservations.  Through LOT Polish Airlines, they secured seats leaving to Warsaw, Poland at 6:25 AM and arriving in Dubrovnik at 11:20 AM.  When the father/daugher duo finally arrived at the airport, they decided to line up with the hippies and the other arriving teams outside Czech Airlines anyway.  They wanted to make sure they had found the best arrangement.  Instead of waiting with the other five couples, the Goths chose to find a travel agency that offered tickets to several different airlines.  This bold move set off a wave of paranoia and another week of ticket purchasing confusion.

Wanting to help their friends Azaria/Hendekea, Christina gave them the phone number for Polish Airlines.  Unfortunately, she didn’t have the country code to offer them as well.  The siblings decided to get out of line anyway to try and call ahead.  Meanwhile, Nathan and Jennifer chose to give up their spot to hover behind Kynt/Vyxin at their travel agency location.  Christina and Ronald temporarily lost their place in line as well when they tried to get a question answered next door.

By the time the Czech Airlines office finally opened, the window to purchase tickets for a 6 AM flight out was very narrow.  TK/Rachel, Nicolas/Donald and Christina/Ronald were still in line to get help.  Although they were only behind Kynt/Vyxin, Nathan and Jennifer for some reason decided to return to the longer line at Location #1 when they saw its doors open.  Meanwhile, the siblings wasted too much time trying to figure out how to reach Polish Airlines by phone.  By the time they returned to Czech Airlines, they were now 5th in line.  (They could have been back sooner had Azaria actually listened to his sister.)  Seeing that they were now at the back of the pack, Christina suggested that the brother/sister duo find out where Kynt/Vxyin were.  Meanwhile, the father/daughter team decided to get out of line altogether and just retrieve the Polish Airlines tickets they already reserved.

At the Czech offices, TK/Rachel and Nicolas/Donald got a 6 AM flight into Prague; this would get them into Dubrovnik at 11:20am.  (Nathan/Jennifer also tried to get this same flight but found out they wouldn’t be able to board in time.)  Meanwhile, at Location #2, Kynt/Vyxin and Azaria/Hendekea purchased the same Vilnius/Warsaw/Dubrovink route that Christina and Ronald were already on; their arrival would be the same as the Czech Airlines route.  (After being snubbed by the Czech offices, Nathan/Jennifer had to find another location to give them the Warsaw option.)

Shortly before boarding, Hendekea asked a ticketing agent if it was possible to get seats toward the front of their plane.  That was when she found out she and Azaria accidentally secured seats in business class.  (A big Amazing Race no-no.)  Although they tried to fix the situation quickly, they were out of luck.  Now the siblings were stuck with a much later flight heading into Croatia via Frankfurt.

Confused? Here’s a recap of the flight situation again:

#1) Vilnius to Prague to Dubrovnik (arrival 11:20 AM):
TK/Rachel, Nicolas/Donald
#1) Vilnius to Warsaw to Dubrovnik (arrival 11:20 AM):
Kynt/Vxyin, Christina/Ronald, Nathan/Jennifer
#1) Vilnius to Frankfurt to Dubrovnik (arrival ???):
Azaria/Hendekea

As luck would have it, the first two teams out of the Vilnius airport ran into major problems; their first flight was plagued with delays forcing them to miss their connection in Prague.  Now TK/Rachel were heading into Dubrovnik via Vienna; Nicolas and Donald were going via Zagreb.

Thanks to the flight fiascos, Nathan/Jennifer, Kynt/Vyxin and Christina/Ronald were the first three teams to arrive in Vilnius.  Once they had reached the base of the Fort of St. Lawrence, they would receive information about their next Road Block. For this task, one competitor from each team had to help with the renovation of the city’s walls.  To complete the challenge, the racer had to search through a pile of stones for one that would fit into the wall like a puzzle.  Christina and Ronald not only found the clue box first, they completed their task before the other two teams could even find their way.  From the Road Block, the father/daughter team then walked to the top of the fort where they rode a tandem zip line over the water to a neighboring fort.

Once on the other side, Christina/Ronald began the Detour portion of the race.  For this task, they had to choose between Short and Long or Long and Short.  In ‘Short’, the teams had to rapel from the roof of the fort to the base below then follow a marked path to the city wall.  After using a rope to scale the wall, they then had to make their way through the old town (and confusing streets) to the plaza.  In ‘Long’, the pairs had to use another tandem zip line to reach the water below where they would swim to a floating platform.  They would then use small fishing boats to row around the city walls to the harbor.  From there, they would walk to the same city plaza.

Although Ronald and Christina had a decent lead going into the water challenge, difficulties with their rowing allowed Nathan and Jennifer to slowly creep up.  (Kynt/Vxyin chose to do the climbing option.)  But despite’s Nathan’s physical advantage over the father/daughter team, his souring relationship with Jennifer threatened to sink them.

Just let me try and figure this out without you yapping at me every second.  You’re not even trying!  Why aren’t you paddling?  Why are you yelling at me? I hate you, I hate you! I’m never gonna be with you ever again.  I hate you with a passion!

Somehow the bickering couple managed to pull it together to make it to shore.  Although they were second into the harbor, a shortcut they found put Nathan and Jennifer first at the final clue box.  All they had to do now was travel by taxi to the stone cross that overlooked the city.  Phil would be waiting for them there.

Adding insult to their miserable state, Jennifer could not find a taxi driver that would allow the wet competitors inside their vehicle.  This was not a problem for Christina and Ronald though (maybe they were already dry?).  The father/daughter duo jumped in a cab, leaving the stranded team behind.  This fortunate turn of events gave Christina and Ronald their first leg win of the competition.

Frustrated by the lack of help they were receiving, Jennifer found a random driver on the street and offered to pay him for a ride up to the pit stop.  (Keep in mind - the clue specifically instructed them to get there

).  Because they didn’t take a legal form of transportation, Phil told Nathan and Jennifer to go back down the hill and start over again.  This penalty allowed Kynt/Vxyin to catch up and place second.  (Nate/Jen eventually scored third.)

LESSON OF THE DAY:  ALWAYS READ AND UNDERLINE THE FINE PRINT IN YOUR CLUES.

Meanwhile, TK and Rachel were the fourth team to arrive in Dubrovnik; a whopping 3 hours behind the first three groups.  Nicolas/Donald and Azaria/Hendekea arrived some time after the hippies.

Although it seemed like the siblings were completely out of the race, Donald’s long, methodical turn at the Road Block put the brother/sister act within reach.  Unfortunately, the team with three leg wins under their belt just couldn’t overcome the fatal mistake they made back in Lithuania.  As Hendekea put it, “It wasn’t like somebody beat us.  We beat ourselves.”  LOSER: Azaria/Hendekea.

(You can review last week’s episode here.)
(You can read the next episode here.)