Sunday, February 23

FIRENZE E CIOCCOLATO CHOCOLATE FAIR.  Piazza Santa Croce.  10 am – 8 pm.  Free admission.

The public will find an array of countless handcrafted chocolate treats, from dark to white, each unique with allure and every one with flavors that will leave guests craving for more. The freshest, delicious, and most delicate chocolates can be found, sampled and purchased from Italy’s most-respected chocolatiers, from north to south.

There is a stand dedicated to the famous specialty chocolate from Modica, Sicily, characterized by a grainy texture, a low-fat composition and aromatic flavors such as Sicilian almond and pistachios from Bronte.  The recipe — cocoa paste, brown sugar and natural aromas — was brought to Modica by the Spanish, who had learned the technique during their conquest of Mexico.  Another producer, Orsini, specializes in sugar-less bars that are pure chocolate.  Lots of chocolate truffles are on hand as well as chocolate and chocolate-filled macarons.

A kind chocolate artisan from Perugia pointed to a healthier alternative — milk or dark chocolate filled with puffed farro, a Tuscan-type barley, also known as spelt.  Using farro, the treat has less fat and no extra sugar,” she explained.  Then she pulled out a caloric treat — a dark chocolate loaf layered with white chocolate.

Another exhibitor from Bergamo offers samples of  “croccantino cookies,” a delicious mixture of chocolate and nuts baked on thin wafers, also for sale.  A chocolate fountain supplies the liquid chocolate to accompany strawberries in addition to Spanish churros, a fried dough pastry in the shape of a thin spiral.  An exciting discovery is the new salted caramel milk chocolate loaf (pictured) studded with peanuts and cashews, which can be purchased in large chunks.  (rosanna cirigliano)

CIOMPI ANTIQUES & COLLECTIBLES MARKET. Piazza Ghiberti. 9 am – 6 pm. 

VIAREGGIO CARNIVAL.  Viale Mazzini, Viareggio. 3 pm. Admissio,n: €20 for adults, €15 for children up to 14 years old; children under 1,20m (4 ft.) enter free.

CLASSICAL MUSIC: DON PASQUALE opera by Donizetti. Teatro del Maggio, Piazzale Vittorio Gui, 1. 3:30 pm.

DANZAINFIERA. Fortezza da Basso. Open 9 am – 8 pm. Admission: 1 day €18, 4 days €45; free for children under 8; €12 for 8 – 10 year olds.

JERUSALEM QUARTET with soloist Hila Baggio (soprano). Music of Schulhoff, Desyatnikov, and Korngold. Saloncino della Pergola. 9 pm.

FIRENZE ICE VILLAGE. Fortezza da Basso.

EXHIBITIONS:

PICASSO. THE OTHER HALF OF THE SKY: PHOTOS BY EDWARD QUINN. Palazzo Medici Riccardi. Open 9 am – 7 pm. Museum ticket: €7.

THE PINOCCHIO ENIGMA. FROM GIACOMETTI TO LACHAPELLE. Villa Bardini. Open 10 am – 7 pm. Admission: €10. Reduced: €5. Free for children under 7.

SUSTAINABLE THINKING. Salvatore Ferragamo Museum, Palazzo Spini Feroni. Open 10 am – 7:30 pm. Admission: €8, free for those under 10 and 65 and over.

TOMAS SARACENO: AIR. Palazzo Strozzi Courtyard. Open 10 am – 8 pm.