In the two previous Amanxing Races, obvious alliances between the pet teams developed right away. But this time, the alliances have been almost hidden.

There seems to be a hoofed animal alliance between the bulls and the donkeys, and the two American pairs seem to be allied with the British and Cuban groups.

Everyone likes the lemurs except for Ernesto and Fermin, who find them irritating, and the Russians tend to keep to themselves. Koko, what do you have to say?

Koko is over on the Viking ship, playing with the lemurs and Burgess and Meredith, and is not commenting.

Robert Plant has stepped outside to get some fresh air, and there’s a bustle in the hedge row. He’s not alarmed, now, it’s just a spring clean for the Manx cat.

“Ahh, a daughter of Manannan. I remember the old Celtic legend of how the Vikings would cut off the tails of the Isle of Man cats for their helmets. No wonder you don’t like the museum. And look, here come the Welsh Corgis. Have you two ever been to Bron-Yr-Aur? We made some great music there.”

Finally, everyone settles down.

Ernesto and Fermin, who were the first to arrive in Oslo, are the first to depart. Their clue reads: “You’ll have to go Over the Sea, not Under the Sea, to find the Little Mermaid in Copenhagen, Denmark.”

They head off to the ferry dock and are joined by Herc and Maxx, Bella and Douglas, and the donkeys. Monty and Holly are stuck on the dock, and try to use their royal privileges to get on the ferry, but they’re not royals in Norway. They will have to wait until the next ferry.

The racers sailed up the Skagerrak and sailed down the Kattegat, through the harbor and up to the quay, and there she sits waiting for them, with a welcome so warm and so friendly…the Little Mermaid!

Bella is the first to the statue where she finds her next clue: to take a train to Bremen, Germany and find the statue of the Bremen Town Musicians.

As they run to the station, they pass several locals in orange sweatshirts, who point at them and say, “Amanxing Race! Heidi!”  Douglas wants to stop and see who knows their cocker spaniel friend, but Bella eggs him on.

The second group has also followed Danny Kaye’s directions and has arrived at the Mermaid. Burgess tries to show off by jumping into the water and swimming around, Stravinsky waits longingly for a fish treat from the Little Mermaid, and Meredith flaps her wings and honks at him to get going. Joey and Larry are being their usual silly selves and Monty is acting snooty, but for some reason, Desi and Celia seem uncomfortable. Are they also upset at the lemurs?

Herc and Maxx are excited to be back in their ancestral country, and they look out the window the whole way to Bremen. The bulls try to avoid seeing the signs for “Hamburg.” Bella sleeps. Douglas stays awake and tries to get a headstart, but it’s the donkeys who run over to the statue first. Omara is so excited to see a donkey on the bottom of the statue, with a dog, cat, and rooster perched on their backs, that she persuades Hercules, Douglas and Joey to help her form a "living" version of the famous statue.

Omara finds the clue, which tells her to take a train to Vienna, Austria, and repeat a Road Block task that was so popular in Amanxing Race 2: Going to the Dogs that we brought it back. One member must ride around the famous ferris wheel in the Prater. Off go the pairs, with Hercules and Maxx getting a lot of attention.
 
As the first group gets on the train to Vienna, the second group arrives. Desi is the first one to the statue and is very excited to find they’re going to Vienna. He and Celia seem in much better spirits now. When the first train arrives in Vienna, there’s a scramble for cabs to go to the Prater wheel. Ernesto and Fermin cause a near panic in the train station, but they manage to get to the park just behind Bella and Douglas.

Bella has chosen to go around in the ferris wheel and promptly falls asleep in the car. It’s up to Ernesto to wake her up when they complete one rotation. Ibrahim and Maxx aren’t far behind.

When Bella wakes up, she gets her next clue: to go to the famous Spanish Riding School, home of the white Lipizzaner horses, the Pet Stop for this leg of the race.

There’s another mad dash for cabs. Hercules and Maxx’s driver takes a shortcut and gets them there first where they find another white Spaniard to greet them.

Sitting atop a Lipizzaner horse is Pierre, the white Havanese from the last Amanxing Race, all grown up! His owner, Eliades Goizueta, welcomes the police dogs, bulls, Bella and Douglas, and the donkeys to the Pet Stop in that order.

Pierre poses atop Ibrahim's head.

Three hours later, the second train arrives, and there’s another bit of confusion at the train station as the penguins slide past everyone else to get their cabs. Burgess, Holly, Zhivago, and Larry line up to ride the ferris wheel.
 
But what’s this? Desi and Celia are lost, it looks like. They can’t find the Prater. They’re turning right where they should go left; but why aren’t they asking for directions? Burgess is stepping off the ferris wheel but…can it be…what is going on here? Desi and Celia are running straight for the United States embassy in Vienna!
 
Burgess and Meredith, Monty and…I can’t believe it. Desi and Celia have climbed over the fence and they’re running up to the door! Celia is scratching on the door of the United States Embassy! The ambassador is letting them in! The Cuban racers have decided to seek asylum in the United States!

A long black car drives up to the Embassy. Out come Phil Kiwi, Koko, and Mr. Goizueta. The United States ambassador to Austria informs Phil that Desi and Celia have decided to stay in the Embassy and drop out of the Amanxing Race.

“Desi and Celia, is this your final decision?” asks Phil, and they shake their heads yes. The embassy staff is trying to figure out what to do with the two new American pets when Koko comes up and taps the Ambassador on the back.

“Yellow dog man. Yellow dog man. Koko love yellow dog man. Koko love brown cat, little dog.”

A transatlantic call is placed to I.P. Daley of Naples, Florida, owner of Amanxing Race II champion Taffy and the late Quincy, who says he would love to adopt Desi and Celia. He thinks the climate of Naples would remind them of Havana, and Taffy has been lonely since Quincy died. He’ll be on the first plane to Vienna.

“Desi and Celia,” says Phil, “While I’m sorry to tell you you’ve been eliminated from the Amanxing Race, I’m happy for both of you. Congratulations on your new home in the United States and your new owner.”

“Star stripe cat, star stripe dog,” adds Koko.

WRITTEN BY BECKY BANFIELD
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER DAVE HUNTER & BELLA T. MANX
Inspired by The Amazing Race on CBS

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