The Amazing Race 33, Episode 8 Recap

“Souvlaki” Episode Description: Teams travel to Halkidiki, Greece, where they are tested on their spelling and memory skills.

Episode Airdate: Wednesday, February 16th, 2022 on CBS

After experiencing two episodes worth of various picturesque locations in Corsica, FRANCE, teams flew eastward to another picturesque destination: northeastern GREECE. Episode 8 of the The Amazing Race mostly centered around the Halkidikí (Chalkidikí) Peninsula. Once they arrived at Peraía Beach in the town of Peraía near the city of Thessaloníki…

● Teams drove to the Konstantinos Olive Grove in the village of Néa Gonía and were tasked with finding a clue high up in an olive tree. Cayla and Raquel made use of the shoulder-stepping method — which displayed their dependable teamwork — to reach the clue. Unfortunately, they did not have to resort to the clever but shoulder-hurting maneuver because The Amazing Race showed a ladder close by! Teams traveled to Marianna’s Vineyard and encountered the episode’s first…

● Roadblock (“Who Likes to Wrap?”): Marianna’s Vineyard typically grows grapes to harvest the fruit’s leaves and not necessarily to make wine. One member on each team combined a mixture of rice, vegetables, and spices and filled grape leaves to make 60 dolmades, which are essentially “leaf burritos” as Dusty said. Kim successfully prepared her wraps first, maintaining Team Kim and Penn’s longstanding lead in the competition. Meanwhile, Raquel had difficulty in wrapping the dolmades to the satisfaction of the vineyard’s proprietor but finally found success after some trial and error.

● Teams visited Mamo’s Kantina Stand near Heraklia Beach about 13.4 miles and 21.6 kilometers east of Mount Olympus (Olympos). They asked the food cart vendor about the Dish of the Day and were instructed to spell the name of this cuisine: souvlaki. Teams then had to make a decision that would make some vegan and vegetarian viewers cringe or change the channel: choosing whether to eat a chicken souvlaki or a pork souvlaki. While clues for the next stop are typically found in an iconic black-and-yellow envelope, this clue was simply a place name (Saint George Church) printed on the souvlaki’s wrapper. Many teams did not notice the clue at first, including Lala and Lulu who ate several souvlaki servings and were puzzled about not receiving a traditional clue envelope in hand.

● Roadblock (“Who Wants to be Iconic?”): Néa Irákleia’s Saint George Orthodox Church is a circular and three-tiered structure featuring an octagonal bell tower. Outside in the church’s plaza, one member on each team took about ten minutes to listen to a priest as he taught them about Saint Anastasia (of Sirmium), Saint Christopher, Saint David (the Dendrite), Saint George, Saint Irene, Saint John the Apostle, Saint John the Theologian, Saint Mercurius, Saint Nicholas (of Myra), and several other saints. He or she had to correctly identify the illustrations of five saints — St. Anastasia, St. Christopher, St. David, St. Irene, and St. Mercurius — based on a vendor’s variety of quiz questions. Penn successfully completed this task first.

● Pit Stop: Néa Kallikráteia — a fishing port overlooking the Thermaic Gulf (Thermaïkós Kólpos) which is a component of the Aegean Sea

● An extra GeoFact: the Aegean Sea is home to over 1,400 islands.

● Before arriving at the souvlaki task(s) mentioned above and consuming way more souvlaki then they would’ve liked, Lala and Lulu somehow found the Pit Stop and show host Phil Keoghan before finding the souvlaki stand! While having the “advantage” of knowing the Pit Stop location ahead of time, this sneak peek ultimately did not help them since they ended up in last place and were eliminated from the competition. In this season, the twin duo occasionally argued with each other but quickly became one of my favorite teams as they tried to make the most out of their traveling mishaps — especially when they attempted to eat not-so-yummy meals! Their Amazing Race journey seems relatable; for me, traveling is not 100% enjoyable but I try to make positive memories nevertheless!

● On the next episode of The Amazing Race and even closer to the $1 million finale, “Teams leave no stone unturned”…

  Season 33, Episode 8 Results

  1st — Kim and Penn [same as previous episode]
       1st place prize — $7,500 each

  2nd — Cayla and Raquel [same as previous episode]

  3rd — Dusty and Ryan [same as previous episode]

  4th — Arun and Natalia

  5th — Lala and Lulu
       Eliminated from the competition