Last week’s winners, Azaria and Hendekea, were the first to depart at 6:45 AM the next morning.  Nathan and Jennifer – the couple that narrowly came in second - started their way to the airport one minute later.  After a lengthy stay in Burkina Faso, the racers were finally set to visit a new destination: Lithuania.  Unfortunately, getting tickets to the country 3000 miles away proved to be confusing for the competitors – and bloggers (like me) at home trying to get it all straight.

Discovering that the airport offices were not yet open, the teams had to resort to internet research for the next few hours; they were only allowed to purchase tickets from official airline ticketing offices for this leg of the race.  Aside from Nicolas/Donald, most of the racers ended up converging at the same small internet stop.  (The grandfather/grandson duo found a different internet café to work out of.)  After learning they would all end up on the same 10:45 PM flight into Paris, Ronald chose to leave the other teams behind while he and Christina searched for an open Air France location.  The impatient father hated standing around by computers; he wanted to deal with a live person.  Although they had some difficulties working with their French-speaking agent, Ronald/Christina eventually secured tickets from Paris to Prague to Vilnius (Lithuania).  Their expected arrival time was 2:10 PM.

The other duos – who had discovered a Paris/Amsterdam/Vilnius route that would get them into Lithuania 45 minutes earlier (1:25 PM) – were now racing to the same Air France ticket office. Nicolas and Donald, first on scene, were paired with the same French-speaking agent Ronald and Christina had.  Meanwhile, Hendekea/Azaria worked opposite them with an English-speaking agent.  Although the siblings were able to score tickets on the 1:25 PM route, Nicolas was told the flight was full; he assumed it was because Hendekea had just nabbed the last spots.  Not equipped with the little French knowledge Christina had earlier, the grandfather/grandson team had to temporarily settle with the 5:35 PM option they were given.  Weirdly enough, Nathan/Jennifer and Shana/Jennifer somehow got tickets for the 1:25 PM route after Nicolas/Donald had already left the Air France office.  (The remaining couples – Kynt/Vxyin, TK/Rachel – got flights into Vilnius arriving at 1:35 PM.)

Once they had reached the airport, Nicolas and Donald decided to try the other Air France office; it was there they discovered (thanks to Nathan/Jennifer) that they had gotten screwed out of the earlier route.  Although it was too late for them to get tickets on the 1:25 PM flight, the grandfather/grandson team managed to at least get seats for the 1:35 PM arrival.  Meanwhile, Christina and Ronald were now learning that they were on the latest flight into Vilnius; worried that the turnaround in Amsterdam could be too short, they opted to stick with their original Prague/Vilnius route.

If you didn’t manage to keep that all straight, here’s a recap of the different flights into Lithuania:

#1) Paris to Amsterdam to Vilnius (arrival 1:25pm): Nathan/Jennifer, Shana/Jennifer, Azaria/Hendekea
#2) Paris to Frankfurt to Vilnius (arrival 1:35pm): Nicolas/Donald, Kynt/Vxysin, TK/Rachel
#3) Paris to Prague to Vilnius (arrival 2:10pm): Ronald/Christina

Once in Vilnius, the teams had to use the marked cars to locate St. Anne’s Church; that is where they would find their next clue.  In the end, all the energy spent finding flights into the country (and writing this recap) was completely wasted.  The leads that had been created began disappearing one by one.  Duos lost valuable time trying to find their cars and/or the church, avoiding t-bone accidents with a bus (Shana/Jennifer) or simply fighting each other (Nathan/Jennifer and Shana/Jennifer).  The first two teams to make it to the clue box (Nicolas/Donald, Kynt/Vyxin) were actually passengers from Flight #2.  (Surprisingly, Christina and Ronald – the last team to arrive in the country – were the fourth team on scene.)

For their first Road Block, the duos had to choose one racer to act as a Lithuanian ‘messenger’.  The person charged with this task had to first find a woman working outdoors in the small village who would give them a package and delivery instructions.  After the competitor had reached the second location by foot, they then had to deliver one more package before receiving their next clue.  Much like the market challenge outside Ouagadougou, this leg of the race was a difficult chore for those lacking any sense of direction.  Although he was the first to begin the messenger service, Nicolas’ endless circles dropped his team into last place heading into the next segment of the race; Shana and Jennifer were just slightly ahead of them in 6th.

From the Road Block, the racers had to travel to an outdoor Lithuanian museum in the town of Rumsiskes.  In a village there, they had to find a Travelocity gnome hiding amongst many look-alikes.  After finding their blue friend – something they had to take with them all the way to the final check-in – the teams then had to follow a marked path to get their next Detour choices: Count Down’ or ‘Step Up’.  In ‘Count’, the racers had to determine the correct number of pickets in a marked section of fence.  In ‘Step Up’, both competitors had to use stilts to walk down a path.  If at any point someone were to fall, they had to start again from the beginning.

Fearing the counting challenge would become easily frustrating, Kynt and Vyxin (the first team at the Detour) opted to try the stilts.  Unfortunately, difficulties with the physical task forced the Goths to later change their minds.  Conversely, Nathan/Jennifer chose to do stilts after a complete meltdown at the picket fence.  Although Jennifer was convinced they could complete this leg fairly quickly, she kept sabotaging their chances by constantly interrupting Nathan.  (If you’re the type of person who needs to count aloud, stay away from that irritable blonde.)

LESSON OF THE DAY: IF YOU’RE PRONE TO FIGHTING, DON’T TAKE ON TASKS THAT ARE MENTALLY DEMANDING.

After completion of the Detour, the teams simply had to walk to a nearby windmill to reach the final pit stop.  Thanks to their mastery of the wooden poles, TK and Rachel were the first to step on the mat.  This was quite an achievement considering they were the last team to start this whole chapter of the race.  It was also a treat to see Christina and Ronald’s impressive finish; they overcame their late arrival into Lithuania – and Ronald’s nasty fall on the stilts – to place third.

As we learned in the first episode of this season, karma really will come back to bite you in the butt.  This was unfortunately something the blondes had to find out the hard way.  Having never been in sync since Shana’s decision to U-Turn Lorena/Jason last week, the two friends were bickering throughout the entire episode.  (Who would have guessed that at least ½ of the team would sport a conscience?)  Their lack of communication helped put an end to the glamour girls’ journey.  LOSER: Shana/Jennifer.  (At least Shana can now go back to the facials and manicures she can’t stop talking about.)

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