US Tourist Drives Ferrari Into Florence's Famous Piazza

By Valentina DiDonato, CNN

(CNN) -- Getting behind the wheel of a bright red Ferrari sports car doesn't mean you can drive anywhere -- not even in Italy.

That's what one American tourist found to his cost when he drove a gleaming Ferrari Spider into the Piazza della Signoria, a famous pedestrianized square in the historic center of the city of Florence.

The tourist was apprehended on Monday after he parked the Swiss-registered Ferrari Spider, having been seen motoring along the adjacent Via dei Gondi street in what local officials described as a "nonsensical" way.

The square he drove across is normally teeming with tourists, many on their way to visit the adjacent Uffizi Gallery, home to some of Italy's most famous artworks.

He was fined 470 euros ($506) by police on the spot after checks revealed that he didn't have the appropriate paperwork for driving in Italy on the roads, let alone in the piazza.