Before a trip to Rome that was going to fall on me and my wife's 18th anniversary, I had the idea of the two of us getting tattoos to mark the occasion. I'm pretty extensively covered in tattoos, and my wife has a few, so I kind of know what I wanted to get out of the experience. I don't want to deal with "too cool for you" shop vibes or shady shops that keep uncertain hours since we would be working with a limited time frame.
After doing some searches, I stumbled upon Area Industriale and started a chat via Instagram DM with the owner, who was enthusiastic about our visit and reasoning for the pieces and their less than original design (we wanted the simple Roman numerals XVIII to recognize the 18 years) and had us booked and ready to go. The day of our appointment, we took a wonderful 30 minute walk out of the city center and through the local neighborhoods to the shop, which we found to be an awesome little space that was very well-lit and inviting. It felt more like an artist hangout or gallery than traditional tattoo shop. We were introduced to Norberto who would be doing the work, and he got busy setting up. I watched him do all the proper prep work I'm used to seeing in the states and he was very professional and had my two small pieces done in no time. Next was my wife, which was just as quick and pleasant.
After settling our bill (which was very reasonable) they called us a cab and we rode away with our permanent reminders of our trip to Rome. My only regret was not having time to get a more extensive piece done. Overall it was a fantastic experience and I can't recommend Area Industriale enough. read more