‘The Amazing Race’ 13: marching in Moscow

Here’s hoping the producers of “The Amazing Race” will find contestants for the 14th installment of the series who can read the clues. Because yet again, frat brothers Dan and Andrew — now nicknamed DAndrew — messed up horribly because they didn’t read the clues properly.

Anyway, on the ninth lap of the race, the teams left Almaty, Kazakhstan, and flew to Moscow. Because the first flight out was at 6:05 a.m., all four remaining teams ended up leaving on the same flight.

But because DAndrew had left their shoes behind at the last Road Block and were wearing slippers, they bought new shoes at the airport and had little money left to pay for taxis in Moscow.

And if you thought taxis in New York were expensive, the teams were shelling out something like $100 to go from the Moscow airport into the city! Naturally, DAndrew didn’t have enough money to pay their driver.

Once in Moscow, the teams had to find their way to a monastery and light a candle to receive their next clue. The majority of the teams managed to find taxis with drivers who didn’t seem to know their way around Moscow — only Toni and Dallas got drivers who had a sense of direction.

The monastery clue led them to a decommissioned camp outside Moscow where they encountered their Detour: Boots or Borscht. In Boots, they had to put on a military uniform, paying strict attention to how the soldiers wrap their feet before they put on their boots. After putting on their uniforms, they were taught a drill march and if they performed it correctly they would be given their next clue.

In Borscht, the teams had to serve borscht to 75 hungry soldiers.

All the teams went for Boots. But poor DAndrew.

First Andrew couldn’t figure out how to wrap his feet so they changed back into their street clothes and decided to serve the Borscht. But, oy, the clue stated that they had to remain in uniform when they served the soup. So they had to put the uniforms on once again.

This time, Andrew got the knack of the foot wrap and decided to attempt Boots. Andrew had been in a marching band for three years. But poor Dan. Remember Jerry Lewis’ goofy walk in “The Nutty Professor” or Elaine’s dismal attempt at dancing on “Seinfeld”? They had more rhythm than Dan.

“Nyet, nyet, nyet,” the soldiers kept saying as Dan tried to march. So after several attempts, they went off and did the Borscht.

The mother/son team of Toni and Dallas was the first to get to the next destination: a bakery in a nearby town. The Roadblock? One of the members of the team had to lift 50 55-pound bags of flour from a truck into the bakery. It was a hot, messy job.

Dallas explained that he would do “anything it takes” to win the race for his mother. And he managed to complete the task first and they hit the Pit Stop at a “Fun Garden” in Moscow. The two ended up winning a trip to a resort in the Dominican Republic.

Though Dan couldn’t march to save his life, he was surprisingly strong when it came to lifting the flour, causing Andrew to remark “this is studly.”

DAndrew, though, came in last. But being a non-elimination round, they were saved for another week though they will be hitting a Speed Bump — a task only they must perform. And from last night’s previews, it looks like there is some dancing involved. Sorry Dan.

- Susan King, Los Angeles Times staff writer

[Photo: Starr and Nick compete on "Amazing Race" 13 in Russia / CBS]

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This entry was posted on Monday, November 24, 2008 at 10:49 am by Susan King and is filed under Amazing Race, Europe, News, Tips & Advice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.