S. Salute - THE Place to see Costumes

Two years ago when I was here for Carnivale, my friends had told me how many of the people in "serious" costumes gathered on a Thursday morning at Basilica Santa Maria della Salute (a church on the other side of the Grand Canal from San Marco.  Because I had taken my best costume pictures there last time, this morning we headed off fairly early and were at S. Salute by 9.  Most of the people were going to be arriving at 10 am but, even so, there were a lot of professional photographers hanging around and already some impressive costumes there as well.  So, we began to wander around snapping away and, after about two hours, my sister and I had both taken close to 200 photos!  So, without any further ado and because so many people have asked me to post them, here are some (and only some!) of the creative and amazing costumes.  I will post more later - and plan to have photos of ones that don't quite meet the bar, so to speak!  For all the beautiful creations, there are others at the opposite end of the spectrum!