Sauerkraut and Beer - Made in Heaven for New York Detectives!

Another exciting leg of The Amazing Race begins in Argentina! Leaving first, Jet & Cord open their clue to find out they must fly to Frankfurt, Germany then catch a train to Hamburg. They will then have to scour the city on foot for Jungernstieg Street and the clue box. They stop at a travel agency and find out the first flight leaves at 11:10 a.m. the next morning. They realize that most of the teams are going to be on the same flight.

Carol & Brandy decided that they are going to avoid the meltdowns - their word from now on is “respectful.” We’ll see how long that lasts..... Dan says he hates flying and he’s doing the Race for his brother Jordan.

All the teams end up leaving at the same time but taking different routes to get to Germany. No mention made of the landing times, so one can only conclude that they were pretty close together. (After seeing the landing times, the planes land within an hour of each other). Jet & Cord and Louie & Michael land first and get their tickets, and wait for the train. Dan & Jordan and Carol & Brandy land with time to catch the train, but have problems finding the correct gate and get to the landing as the train is leaving. They end up on the same train with all the other teams.

Jet & Cord (with the stupid plastic on his cowboy hat, he looks like a dork! C’mon, if they’re real cowboys, those hats are made to withstand all kinds of weather. Every cowboy watching this show is probably rolling his eyes out of his head.) make it to the clue box to find an Intersection. This means each team must join with another team to mutually complete the challenge. Of course, they talk to the detectives and team up for the Roadblock in the clue. “Who wants to reach new heights?” Working together, the two to perform the Roadblock will take a train to Hamburg Harbor and bungee 150 feet in the middle of the city to get their next clue.

Joe & Heidi decide to work with Steve & Allie, and talk to a guy they met on the train to point them in the right direction. Dan & Jordan will work with Carol & Brandy, with Dan saying that Carol is “like the lesbian aunt that I never had.” They grab an English-speaking local to lead them to the Harbor. That leaves Brent & Ciate and Jeff & Jordan to team up. The girls decide to try the task. Brent talks about how Caite has lived in New York and has a good sense of direction, and Jordan decides to let Caite “lead the way,” which (of course) means they’ll end up on the wrong train. They get on a train and it’s moving before they ask where it’s going. (All the young blondes watching this - if they have half a brain - are groaning that Jordan & Caite are adding to the stupidity stereotype. And they’re doing a fine job!) I suppose it never occurred to them to ask BEFORE they got on a train......

Michael & Jet get to the bungee drop and get geared up. The guys working the bungee tell Jet he’ll lose his hat, but he insists he won’t. Believe it or not, it doesn’t! They’re stuck/tied together to jump, and both are yelling as they do it. Michael is amazed that Jet’s hat stayed on, and Jet tells him that “a real cowboy’s hat never comes off.” (Never?) They get the clue and are told not to open it until they are reunited with their teammates.

Joe & Allie are on their way to the Harbor. Dan & Brandy are close behind and get to watch Joe & Allie do their jump and Brandy looks ready to pass out. “They’re upside down!” (Otherwise they’d have to tie the bungee cord to your neck, dipwad!)

Once Michael & Jet are back with Louie & Cord, the clue tells the teams to find Kaiser Wilhelm and find their next clue box. They must find a square with a statue of Wilhelm, and they are no longer helping each other (well, unless they want to, I suppose!) Michael & Louie take off in a cab and Jet & Cord hop on a train.

Dan spends his whole bungee jump assuring Brandy and telling her that she’ll be okay. Caite & Jordan show up so obviously their little train detour didn’t hurt them much. About this time, Michael & Louie are at the clue box and find a Detour: Soccer or Sauerkraut. (Mmm now I’m interested - and getting hungry!) In Soccer, teams must go to a 100-year-old stadium and kick soccer balls at five targets in the goal from the penalty line. Once they’ve hit all five, they get their next clue. For Sauerkraut, they must go to a restaurant and while a band plays the Sauerkraut Polka, they must finish a plate of sauerkraut together before the song ends to get their clue. If they don’t make it, they have to get another plate of sauerkraut and give it another try. Of course, we don’t know how long the song is....

Michael & Louie, no surprise, decide to eat the sauerkraut. They could probably finish it before the 4th bar of the song!! Jet & Cord realize that taking the train was a bad idea and the long way around. Joe & Heidi and Steve & Allie jump in cabs to find the Wilhelm statue. Caite & Jordan don’t scream as they bungee, which is interesting - all the other teams screamed on the way down and the two little blondies took it like men!

At the restaurant, Michael & Louie see the plate of sauerkraut and figure they have this in the bag. Michael says he’s “eaten things as big as Jet & Cord” so no problems with the plate of sauerkraut. (We still don’t know how long the song is). They blasted through the sauerkraut with time to spare, with Michael eating the lion’s share, and Louie even licked the plate! (Man, that stuff looked good, too!)

Their clue tells them to go to the Haifisch Bar and share a huge “boot” of beer. (Now, the cowboys may have had the advantage in Argentina, but it looks like our New York City detectives have found the leg of the Race that is right up their alley! Food and beer???!)

Jet & Cord run into Steve & Allie and Joe & Heidi at the statue, and all three teams decide to try the Soccer challenge. Brent & Caite and Jeff and Jordan ask a local how to get to the statue and are told to take the train, and Carol & Brandy and Dan & Jordan get the same erroneous advice.

Michael & Louie get to the bar and find out they’re drinking beer. Michael takes the first sip and calls it nasty - he doesn’t drink beer. Looks like Louie will have to kick ass on this one and grabs the beer and starts guzzling it down.

At the soccer field, Joe can’t kick because his knee really hurts. (He’d complained about it earlier. What made him think going to a soccer field was going to be conducive to a bad knee?) They get five balls each and once they kick the five balls, they have to retrieve them and line them up again. Steve & Allie get two targets pretty quickly and the cowboys are still trying to find the soccer field. Brent & Caite are going for the Sauerkraut and Jeff & Jordan head off to the Soccer field.

Joe & Heidi decide to switch tasks and yell to Jeff & Jordan to forget it, so they turn around and head off for sauerkraut. Jet & Cord kick their first ball over the goal, but get their rhythm and get two targets pretty quickly.

Back at the bar, Louie chugged the beer like a champ (a very bloated one, I’ll bet) and their clue says to go to Beatlers Platz, a monument honoring the Beatles who began playing their music in Hamburg. There, they must find the Indra Club, where the Beatles first played and is the Pit Stop.

Brandy & Carol go for Sauerkraut and Dan & Jordan will try the Soccer. Jeff & Jordan are wandering around trying to find someone to ask about directions, and Brent & Caite seem to be in a cab from Hell, going down a dark road with a non-communicative driver. They look resigned to the fact that they’re going to blow it big time on this leg of the Race. After some discussion, the driver realizes he’s input his information incorrectly into his GPS and refigures the directions.

Michael & Louie get a female cab driver, and she tells them that they’re going to an area of pubs, discos, and sex shops. They laugh at that idea and a few minutes later get to the “red light” district to find the Indra Club and a waiting Phil in first place. They jump for joy and are told they’ve each won a $5,000 gift card. (Now THAT’S my idea of a prize!)

Steve & Allie get to the bar and they interview that all through this leg of the Race, Steve has been saying he wanted a beer, but didn’t want to spend the money. (Be careful what you wish for....now you’ve got enough beer for three legs of the Race!)

Jet & Cord hit their next three targets in a row, saying that it’s the first time they’ve ever been on a soccer field. “One more thing on the list that we haven’t done....check.” (I just love these guys more every week.) Steve & Allie down their beer (with Steve drinking most of it) and he’s holding his stomach in the cab. Joe & Heidi get to the restaurant and ask how long the song is, but get no answer. They start blasting down the sauerkraut and finish in plenty of time. Carol & Brandy show up and start mowing down, with Brandy shoveling and Carol daintily picking through the sauerkraut. (Stuff that sauerkraut, woman! Something tells me they’re gonna have problems with the beer...) Dan & Jordan are at the soccer field and Jordan proves that he’s useless at kicking balls. Looks like Dan gets all the targets and they get their clue and head off to the bar. One of the cowboys says “I’ve never drank a beer in my whole life!” (Been out on the range a bit too long, buddy!)

Steve & Allie get to the Mat in second place. Joe & Heidi suck down the beer and Joe makes some nasty puking noises as if the beer is coming right back up. Jet & Cord complain about the taste but are getting through their boot pretty good. Jordan has to hold her nose to eat the sauerkraut and they’re not doing well and don’t finish - they leave a half-plate full. Brent & Caite are excited about the soccer challenge because Caite is good at soccer. She hits a target right away then slips in the wet grass and twists something in her hip. She’s crying “I’ve been playing soccer since I was five years old and it’s pissing me off.” (Now you know what getting older is about, Boopsie!) She refuses to switch tasks and coaches Brent to hit some targets.

Joe & Heidi find the Indra Club and are third. Jet & Cord finally finish their beer and Carol & Brandy watch them leave. Cord vows that he “never, ever in his life wants another beer.” Carol & Brandy finish and Carol is doing some major burping in the cab. Brent & Caite manage to hit all their targets as Dan & Jordan get to the bar, saying they’re going to be shitfaced by the time they finish their beer. Driving through the “red light” district to find the Indra Club, Jet tells Cord “we are no longer in the Bible Belt.” They get to the bar and Phil tells them they are in fourth place. Jeff & Jordan aren’t doing all that well at the soccer field, but they do get one target on their first set of balls.

Carol & Brandy make it to the Indra Club in fifth. Brent & Caite get to the bar and Caite says she hates beer. Dan & Jordan get to the red light street to find the club and Jordan announces “I’m drunk.” Jeff & Jordan finally finish hitting the targets and we see Brent trying to finish the beer as he walks off to puke in the street (no bathrooms in the bar?) We see Jeff & Jordan in the cab on their way to the bar with Jeff burping up sauerkraut - is he in for a treat! Caite makes Brent finish the beer when he gets back Jeff is happy he has to drink a beer and gets cheered by everyone in the bar as he sucks it down. Brent & Caite are wandering the street to find Indra Club as Jeff & Jordan arrive and both teams wander around looking for it. Brent & Caite get to the Mat first and tell Phil they’re expecting bad news, but find out that they’re still in the Race. As Jeff & Jordan show up, Phil tells them they’re the last team to arrive. Jeff says he feels sick, but he doesn’t know if it’s the sauerkraut or the fact that they came in last. “Four legs [of the Race] and a boot of beer.” Phil then tells them that it’s a non-elimination leg of the Race, but they will have to step it up because they’ll have a Speed Bump on the next leg.

So is this just a delayed end of the Race for Jeff & Jordan? Will everyone recover from the sauerkraut and beer? Can you begin a leg of The Amazing Race with a hangover? We’ll find out next week!

Here's the order of finish:
1 - Michael & Louie
2 - Steve & Allie
3 - Joe & Heidi
4 - Jet & Cord
5 - Carol & Brandy
6 - Dan & Jordan
7 - Brent & Caite
8 - Jeff & Jordan (non-elimination leg)

And excuse me for using this opportunity, but a dear friend of mine has been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and I’m going to walk and try and raise money for a cure and assistance to those with the disease. She’s in her early 30's and has a 2-year-old son and deserves to stick around to see her son grow .... so here’s the link to my fundraising page. If you enjoy these bogs at all, please find it in your heart and wallet to donate - no matter how much. Thanks!
http://main.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR/Walk/MIGWalkEvents?px=7783693&pg=personal&fr_id=13983&s_tafId=148678