Mysterious Saint of the Pampas Thirsted for Pinot Noir
You are driving along a two lane back road in Argentina on the way to the second highest peak in the Cordillera Blanca.
Endless expansive high plateau plains on your left. The snow topped Tupungato volcano on your right. No vineyards yet but they will appear soon. Crude roadside memorials appear every 30 minutes. Some are just stone piles surrounded by plastic bottles. Others a bit more ornate with scarves and a tiny shelter for a rough figure. These are homemade monuments to Diffunta Correa, a revered saint of the people among common folk in Argentina and Chile. She died from thirst and starvation but had enough breast milk for her infant to feed on her cold breast milk for two days. (more…)