Introduction → Leg 1 → Leg 2 → Leg 3 → Leg 4 → Leg 5 → Leg 6 → Leg 7 → Leg 8A → Leg 8B → Leg 9 → Leg 10 → Leg 11 → Leg 12
Leg 12.08A – “Touch me and you get punched!”
Photo: Nico Trinkhaus – Royal Way, Prague, Czech Republic
It is just before sunrise in Frankfurt and it’s time for teams to set off on the 8th Leg of the Race. And this 8th Leg will take them to the city of Prague in the Czech Republic.
Teams will hop on a train and arrive in Prague mid-afternoon. Once there, teams must find the Infant Jesus of Prague at Church of Our Lady Victorious. Children will hand them their next clue.
That clue points teams to Old Town Square.
Here, teams must learn how to properly make trdelnik, a traditional sweet pastry and popular Prague street food. Once they’ve correctly mixed the ingredients and put the dough on the spit, teams can make a sweet treat for themselves to receive their next clue.
Teams must now head to Kryocentrum where they will strip to their underwear to enjoy a 2-minute cryotheraphy session in -180°C temperature. If they can stand the holistic therapy, they will be given the next clue.
Teams must now make their way to the Ekotechnicke Museum where they will find the Road Block: “The meaning of life is that it stops.”
Prague’s own Franz Kafka is one of the more important figures of 20th century literature. His influential work has reached people all over the world. For this Road Block, teams will enter a “Kafkaesque” world of power and bureaucracy. They must first search through hundreds of ringing phones for six that will give them numbered pieces of a quote from Kafka’s iconic novella and one of the seminal works of fiction in the 20th century, The Metamorphosis.
“I only fear danger where I want to fear it.”
Teams will then need to rearrange the words into the correct order and recite the quote for the stern inspector in the next room. This is all while also trying to avoid surreal Kafkaesque distractions such as human-sized insects and the like. If teams are able to escape the dark, isolated world by correctly reciting the quote, they will be given the next clue.
Teams CANNOT take notes while listening to the phone calls.
Teams must now find “Fred and Ginger,” which they must figure out is the unique building known as The Dancing House.
And here, teams will find the Detour: Great Escape or Great Night Out.
In Great Escape, teams must head to Mazement and retrieve their next clue while avoiding lasers within a set amount of time. Only one team can attempt the task at a time.
In Great Night Out, teams must carry a total of 40 glasses of beer from a brewery through the town square to a local bar restaurant to receive their next clue.
After the Detour, teams can make their way to the Pit Stop: the iconic Charles Bridge.
But teams will be in for a shock when they find out this is a SUPERLEG and it is not over!
“Director’s” Commentary
I’ve definitely been wanting to have TARPHDME visit the Czech Republic. And this route had a perfect spot for a visit. Using much of TAR15’s Prague visit, I was excited to make this a night Leg. And logistically, that also helps with the SuperLeg.
The Leg starts out with a visit to the Infant Jesus of Prague. That will definitely be a nice moment for Filipino Catholic fans of The Amazing Race Philippines: DryedMangoez Edition, yes?
The next Route Marker makes use of the beautiful Old Town Square in the evening. It’s a typical cooking task, but it’s a nice way to be out in the middle of the city and experience it. Also, it serves as a calm contrast to the rest of the Leg. Lulling the teams into a false sense of typical TAR. Hehe.
The Kryocentrum task is basically just gratuitous nudity. But for people who live in the Philippines, stepping into a -180°C chamber should be hilarious and fun. And definitely a different experience for them.
TAR15’s Kafka Road Block is definitely one of the most infamous. Very memorable, but I wanted to tweak it for TARPH. Instead of simply figuring out “Franz” (which teams probably would never get), I decided to make it a memory task. Memorizing a quote is simple enough. But when you have to unscramble it while in the midst of hundreds of ringing phones, in the dark and with creepy characters from Kafka’s writing like cockroaches or prisoners tied to chairs or a random man carrying around a guillotine, it should be challenging for the teams. But hilarious and exciting fun for the viewers.
The Dancing House is a regular Route Marker and again, would look spectacular at night in 4K UHD drone shots. 😉
The TAR15 Detour was good and provided much entertainment. I would’ve just recycled both tasks here, but like I mentioned in an earlier Leg, this season might be overloaded with “delivery” tasks. But in another season, the TAR15 Detour would definitely be great to have.
So instead of the golem delivery, I did another typical TAR task, the laser maze. It’s a good task for a night Leg. But I just had to have the beer side of the Detour. What TAR fan can forget Brian & Ericka’s epic night on the town, trying to avoid all the drunks on the street. It was amazing. And I hope a TARPH visit will also subject teams to rowdy drunks on the street (planted or not hehe) as well.
The Charles Bridge is of course a must-visit location. But it will be perfect at night for the virtual Pit Stop.
Overall, I think this is a great, full Leg.
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