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Although CBS made the head-scratching decision to air two episodes of The Amazing Race over the holidays, time-delayed by football, guaranteeing that virtually no one would remember to watch them, we certainly stuck with it, and we join our remaining teams in Croatia.

Ron & Christina, our leaders-by-default, head off at a little after 2 a.m. to Ancona, Italy, via Split, Croatia. Fun fact: because they have to travel to Split by bus, they'll technically have to go through Bosnia. And people say they never take the racers anywhere fun.

As everyone's favorite father-daughter team discuss whether "prego" is a greeting or a spaghetti sauce in Italian (it's both!), Kynt & Vyxsin get going in second place. Kynt is excited about getting to Italy because it's somewhere he thinks they'll fit in – but come on, Kynt, you're betraying your dozens of fans here! You don't choose the goth lifestyle because you're seeking to fit in! Bad goth, bad!

Nathan & Jennifer are third out of the gate, and now have fatigue to pile on their thinly disguised contempt for each other... wait, did I say thinly disguised? I meant openly hostile.

The first bus out to Split leaves at 5 a.m., giving us a lead pack of these first three teams, who could have a sizable headstart, with TK & Rachel, the fourth place team, only getting to leave the mat at 5:37 a.m. They hustle to the station and end up just one hour behind, and they've made up worse gaps.

Nicolas & Donald are hoping for a bunching point as they're three buses behind. They get their wish, as the ferry from Split to Ancona doesn't leave until just after they get there, making the morning's work more or less pointless. At least the ferry looks cool.

The teams all arrive at Ancona late in the evening, where their adrenaline gets the better of a couple of teams who rush past the clues waiting for them. Once they head back to pick them up, they're directed to the town of Empoli in Tuscany, to find an airfield. They're also given a Blackberry, which will send them a message at some point in their trip. And, if it's anything like anyone else's Blackberry, it'll give them 17 work assignments while they're on vacation.

The teams have to drive themselves to the next stop, which in Europe means stick shifts, although this seems to only hamper Kynt, and only a little bit. Directions to Empoli come in a few different fashions, with the bulk of the teams being sent via Bologna, though Nathan & Jennifer are given a bit of a potential shortcut. TK & Rachel's directions take them in the general direction of Rome, which seems out of the way looking on the map, but worse than that is that they left their clue on the table while they were getting directions, and are driving blind. After a frantic search of their vehicle, they figure out that they need to head back to Ancona. Doubling back, they discover that the people who gave them directions are still there, and held onto their clue for them. Rachel goes over and gives the one girl a big hug, which is nice, but hey, for that, I think some "van time" might even be appropriate, if you know what I'm saying and I think that you do.

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