I wasn’t even being ironic when we posed in front of the corny “eu amo Congonhas” sign in the airport’s central hall, minutes before the flight. I do like Congonhas. I mean, once you get over the fact planes have literally no room on the runway—you’ll see the edge from your seat—and if you trust your pilot’s skills, it does save you the one-hour ride to GRU, São Paulo’s international airport.

And landing in Santos Dumont in Rio de Janeiro is a treat as well because the airport is downtown and you’ll see the main sights from above without splurging on a helicopter tour.

That is, if it doesn’t rain.

Unfortunately, it was cloudy and rainy in both São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, so the focus turned to “can the pilot actually make it?” I mean, we were landing on a tiny, short and difficult runway in the middle of Rio de Janeiro’s bay…

It was a bumpy flight but we made it.

Rio it is for Christmas.