Italy 2022: Pompeii Archaelogical Park

 Hello!

Since I have watched the movie Pompeii (2003 one, not the one that Kit Harrington starred in), it has been on my wish list that someday I would visit and see the ruins myself. Because the trip to Indonesia this year was canceled due to Corona, the trip to Italy became a last-minute trip, and one of the highlights was Pompeii! The first plan was to stay in Rome for a week and do a one-day trip to Pompeii, but after reading some blogs, and calculating the pros cons, and budget, we decided to in Napoli instead and go to Pompeii from there. I've made a separate post about my trip to Napoli here -- would appreciate it if you read it too :) 

What is Pompeii?

Okay, a short summary of Pompeii and why it is worth a visit. Pompeii was an ancient Roman City that turned into ruins due to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE. If you want to know more, please look at Wikipedia ;))

Where to buy the entrance tickets

There are two options to buy the ticket: offline (directly at the site) or online.

Online tickets offered you less queueing time to enter the site, however, it could cost more money. The normal price to enter Pompeii is 16€. We bought the ticket from tiqets.com for 22€, which was fair, had the queueing time was more than thirty minutes. But due to Corona and Omicron, there weren't so many people when we arrived there and we could've bought the ticket directly with less than ten minutes of queueing time. 

What you need to pay attention to by buying the online ticket was the entrance to the site. As far as I know, there are 3 entrances to the site, with one entrance being a bit far from the other two, so please keep that in mind. 

Offline tickets could be bought directly at one of the entrances. It costs 16€. I've read that most of the time you have to wait for about two hours in line, but I think before "normal" life returns after Corona, there wouldn't be so many people at the site. So might be worth it to save a bit of money and go there directly. 

Another alternative is to buy it from the local travel agency, I've seen them at both the train stations in Pompeii, although I'm not sure how much they cost. 

Reaching Pompeii from Napoli

There are many ways to reach Pompeii from Napoli: car, bus, and train. As usual before visiting another city, I've tried to reach and gather as much information by reading other traveler blogs, what and what not to bring and do, and believe me, they're really helpful. 

Our first plan was to reach Pompeii by bus. I've looked it up, and there would be one bus that would go directly to Pompeii Scavi, the bus stop directly in front of the entrance gate where we are supposed to go. We went half an hour early and even went to the bus station and waited, but the bus did not come. It was the last faith I had in buses in Napoli and admitted to myself that I should stop trying. The good thing about staying in Napoli was that the train to Pompeii ran almost twice an hour, and also depended on the fast or slower train. By train, there are two ways of reaching Pompeii: 

1. You can choose the local train, Circumvesuviana, which will take you directly to Pompeii Scavi, which is located directly next to the archaeological park's entrance. 
• Ca. 38 minutes.
• Pro: Directly located next to the entrance. 
• Cons: It has more stops (all the small train stations), and it gets very crowded, so there might be no place to sit. (imagine going there in Summer!!!)
• If you choose to take this train, in the Napoli station, follow the route "Circumvesuviana" which is located underground! And you can buy the ticket on the vending machine, it costs around 2€ one way.
2. The Metropolitano train (direction to Socranto), will take you to the modern city of Pompei.
• Ca. 35 minutes.
• Pro: Fewer stops, fewer people, the train is more comfortable. 
• Cons: You have to walk around 15-20 mins to the entrance. (But don't worry, there is also a direct bus from the station if you preferred not to walk). 

What to bring/wear

• Comfortable shoes (if you care for your dear life, do not wear high heels most of the roads consist of stones and you'll mostly have to walk everywhere :p) 
• Comfortable clothing
• Snacks/light food
• Drinks (a bottle of water or two)
• Some cash just in case the machine is broken if you want to buy any beverages

Our Pompeii experience

At beginning of January, we had great luck with the weather as the sun was shining, I even brought my hat (but in the end didn't use it because it was annoying, haha). The beginning of the morning was chaos because we didn't know where to get the bus, but at least we managed to reach Pompei (the modern city) station. When we arrived, there was a local bus waiting and everyone got in -- except for us. I didn't know that it was the bus directly to the archaeological park, only got to know about it once the bus is gone and the taxi driver told us. We looked it up on google maps, and it would take us 15-20 minutes to walk, so that was doable. Instead of going by taxi, we decided then to walk. If you are not used to walking a lot, I'd suggest taking a taxi or bus instead because inside the park you'd also walk for longer routes. 

The walk to the park entrance was nice, the nearer we were, the more obvious it was by more "tourist traps" restaurants or parking places. To our surprise, there were not so many people lining up at the entrance. Before we entered, we decided to take a quick break in the coffee shop. The price was quite okay considering that it was a major tourist site. And since this was done still in corona time, we had to wear FFP2 masks everywhere. 

It took us less than 5 minutes of standing in line to finally got it. For those who had the barcode, you had to exchange your tickets first at a special counter (won't be hard to miss it). Also, if you need a map, you could also take it from the counter. Before scanning your ticket, you'd see a lot of independent tour guides offering to guide you. This is up to you to take it or not. We didn't take anything, but to be honest, now I thought it'd be great to have at least the audio guide.

The first question that came into my mind was: WHAT SHOULD I VISIT FIRST? The park is so huge that for someone like me who did not know much about the history, I looked mostly like a lost lamb xD But at least thanks to the provided maps, we could see how well they have divided the maps based on the districts (even with distinguished colours). One rule of thumb I should follow when I feel unsure where to go first, is to follow the crowds ^^

In the old Pompeii, as you walked between the districts, you could clearly see how social status really makes a difference back then (well, now too actually xD): in the beginning, we explored the small houses that belonged to normal people, and in the middle of our day, we visited the houses of some "important people" with magnificent gardens. In some places there were displays of corpses that were found -- it was heartbreaking to see that at one time everything seemed okay but the next minutes boom, the volcano erupted and you couldn't even escape. 

One minus point I felt from the park was there was not so much written information of what was what except on main points. It was a bit sad considering how interesting it would be. This is where the audio guide might come in handy. The park did not provide one but you can download the audio guide from the internet -- I paid around 5€ for the audio guide (through an app) and somehow regretted it afterward. 

Also, please note that there were not so many vending machines/shops around, so make sure to prepare your water and food beforehand (there would be some spots to fill up your tap water). Overall, we spent about 4-5 hours inside, with lots of walking, trying to discover as much area as possible. 

On the way back, we were too lazy to walk back to the Pompeii train station and we decided to take the local train (Circumvesuviana). It was packed with people (plus we took it on rush hour) and I was already feeling hot although it was in January (couldn't imagine how it would be in the summer). 

I really recommend a day trip to Pompeii! If you'd like to spend more days there, I would also recommend taking the Vesuvius tour :) Thank you very much for reading and see you next time!

Italy 2022: Naples (and why I probably won't visit this city again)

Hi everybody!

After many posts about organizational stuff living in Germany, this time I'll write something more fun-- holiday! The sad truth is, I was supposed to fly home for 4 weeks, I even bought the ticket already. But due to the mandatory 10-days quarantine (when I bought the ticket, it was only 3 days), I decided to cancel my ticket as it would cost much more to fly home and it would feel like a waste spending half of the time in the hotel. 

So.. I have to use the holiday anyway, and decided to arrange a last-minute trip to Italy! I have been to the north side (Bologna and Milan) and decided to go a bit to the south now. Actually, Naples was not on the list, we only wanted to go to Pompeii and were planning for a day trip from Rome. But after reading other blogs about it, and calculating the time, cost and effort, we decided to change our flight directly from Stuttgart to Naples, and stayed there for 3 nights! 

Preparation to enter Italy during Corona time

Unfortunately in this pandemic time, we have to be very flexible and much more prepared before traveling. Saying "I will buy a ticket for tonight and fly" would be only easier said than done. You have to check which requirements are needed to enter each country you wanted to visit, and not only that, you also have to check it daily to make sure of last-minute changes. In our case, the case of Omicron has rapidly increased over the days and we were a little bit unsure whether we could actually fly. We checked the news every day, but fortunately, the new regulation that was changed was only that everyone has to wear FFP2-mask, also outside!

Documents you need to prepare prior entering to Italy (from Germany, or for countries on List C):

• Corona test. For antigen-test no more than 24 hours before flying time, and for PCR test 48 hours. 
• Covid-19 vaccination pass
• Digital Passenger Locator Form (dLpf)

What to bring: lots of FFP-2 masks!

Day 1: arrival and getting-to-know Napoli

Our flight from Stuttgart was at 11am, as usual during traveling, a couple of hours earlier from the check-in time was always nice. Online checked-in have been done, but we still needed to drop our baggage at the counter. I have the documents ready, but they actually didn't check it through, they only asked whether we had it prepared or not. It was not stressful, and we boarded and landed without any difficulty. 

According to my experience, I calculated that we would need at least half an hour to get our stuff and have our documents checked, and so on. But oh boy, I was wrong. We only needed less than fifteen minutes to get everything. Surprisingly, they didn't check our documents at all. I've thought Italy would be a bit stricter. But it also could be because our flight was from inside the EU. 

How to reach Naples city center from Airport

Surprisingly, the distance between Napoli Airport and the city center was not that far. There are some ways to reach the city center: taxi, bus or rent a car. We took the bus option because of the obvious reason (the cheapest one). After going out from the arrival, we followed the "bus" sign, and they even provided QR-code on the banners where you could buy the ticket directly. It cost 5€ one way, a reasonable price, I would say.

Following the path to the bus stop (it took around 5-7 minutes on foot), there were some taxi drivers offering the "share taxi" service, which would cost you only 6€ to the main station. This was not a bad opinion, and I would recommend this if you have more luggage, or just want to have peace of mind for the possibility of having to stand on the bus. Besides, the price was fixed so there won't be any scamming. (but if you have otherwise experience, please let me know!) 

The "Alibus" bus for the route Airport - Main Station ran every day from 5 to 23 if I'm not wrong. I did not know about the interval, but I think it'll be around every 10 to 15 minutes. We were lucky because the bus was already there when we arrived at the bus stop -- it was full so we have to stand. I am not a big fan of having to stand with a suitcase and a backpack. Luckily, the way to the main station did not take long, around 15 minutes and we reached already. On the way, we could see how different Napoli was to Germany, architecture-wise or the cleanliness. I've been to Bologna and Milan (both on solo trips fyi), and I didn't recall any of those cities being dirty. You could see trashes laying around, old unrenovated houses, abandoned buildings... But well, better not to judge them by their first fifteen minutes look from inside the bus, right? 

Checking-in

The bus dropped us at the main station, and the cleanliness didn't get any better outside of the main station. We didn't stay long around and used google maps to navigate us to our Airbnb. I chose it to be near the main station to avoid the complication with the luggage on the check-in and check-out day, without knowing that the area of the station was the "slum" area of Napoli. Our Airbnb was only five minutes' walk, but oh dear, we've passed so many trashes, and they smelt badly too. 

Walking around the sea area of Napoli

One of the reasons I was so excited about this city was the possibility of seeing the sea. Coming from Makassar with its sea, I feel the need of seeing the sea and feel the wind and the fishy smell xD. I have already prepared some lists of places I would like to see, and two of them happened to be near the sea: Castle dell Ovo and Castle Nuovo. Since we'd like to walk first, our first destination was Castle Nuovo, around 35 minutes on foot. We chose to go there along the coast. The way was not as beautiful as I thought it'd be, but I was satisfied with the opportunity to enjoy the breeze. And it was obvious that we didn't walk in the tourist area because we saw very few people. 

the seeeeeeaaaaaa!!!

random building accross the sea

We arrived in the hafen, but it seemed that nothing was going on, except for some cruise ships we saw and they were huge. I've never seen one so close, to be honest. I managed to take a picture near it (plus th sea). Funny story, I walked past the yellow line and police came to us, saying something in Italian, but as we told him we didn't speak the language, he just made an "x" sign with his arms and pointed at the line. I then walked out, but he nicely pointed out in the area where I stood in the pic and said, "here okay". 

After spending some minutes in the area, we continued to walk to the castle. 

Castle Nuovo

If you walked along the sea, you could not miss the castle. It was big, it looked badass. It seemed that it was used as a fort back then, not the castle where the princess and prince lived. We were there on a Sunday, which meant the castle was closed. Well, I was not planning to go inside too. But I did take pictures around before we headed out to find for lunch. 

Toledo area

So, if you are in castle Nuovo already, it didn't take long by foot to reach Napoli's famous street. Toledo metro was said to be the "most beautiful metro in Europe", at least that what was our Airbnb host said (and I've read it somewhere too). But that was not our first destination. After walking for quite some time, we were hungry. As usual, I've made a list of restaurants I would love to visit, and the first one, only 2 minutes from Castle Nuovo, was unfortunately too full, and we were just too hungry to wait for more than half-hour. On the quest to find a restaurant, we entered the Galleria Umberto, and they were beautiful. It reminded me of the one in Milan -- well, a tad less beauty than that. 

Galleria Umberto

We exited the main street of Toledo, and now we could see that we were already at one of the main tourist attractions. I personally did not expect this as Italy's cases of Corona was rising. We escaped the main street and went to the smaller street inside and decided to eat at the first restaurant (or well, second) we saw. It was probably a tourist trap, but the food was decent. One thing you needed to have in mind regarding dining, that in Italy, you normally didn't have to tip if in the bill you see something like "servizio" which would cost 2€ to 3€ per person. Or, some restaurant already set their fixed percentage for tipping. This was done because from what I've read, they didn't tip that much (or not at all) in Italy. Please correct me if I'm wrong :) 

first food in Napoli!

After finishing our food, I was still feeling hungry. Well, I need my dessert! There was a cafe nearby that was on my list, and it was supposed to be a good one judging by the long line in front of the cafe. I was hesitant to go in first because it was getting colder, but Tom has convinced me to stay. Apparently, the line was staying longer because most people did take away. We didn't even more than five minutes to be seated, and the cafe was beautiful. It was pricey for a cafe, but it all paid off. I wanted to eat all and ended up ordering a plate consisting of small desserts.

 

left: the delicious dessert we have // right: toledo street, occupied with people

I was exhausted after dessert, and as it was getting darker and colder, we decided to hit back to our Airbnb before going out again for dinner. This time, as suggested by our host, we decided to take the metro from Toledo. It took us a while to find the entrance of the metro. We didn't know yet if there was an app where you could buy the metro, so we decided to buy a one-time ticket. The machine was broken so we had no choice to buy it through a counter. It wasn't complicated, I just simply say "two one-way" and the cashier gave me two paper tickets with MasterCard symbols. For one way it costs 1.60€, a fair price. 

Toledo's metro station was clean, but I still couldn't portray it as what they claimed to be "the most beautiful metro in Europe". No offense, I might not be looking at the right spot. It was deep underground though and the way down was at least pleasant. 

Dinner

We didn't take that much time to choose our restaurant for dinner. The nearer it was to our accommodation, the better. After searching for google, I found a restaurant only five minutes by foot. It was quite occupied -- the restaurant was not that big but cozy. We decided to share a pizza, and the pizza was delicious. One tip though, don't order salad in Italy. Somehow they never came out correct. 

Day 2: from the castle by the sea to the all-year-round christmas market

A stressful morning

I have to admit, public transportation in Napoli could be a headache. At least I found an app where you could buy the daily ticket, but that app didn't help much with the direction. The plan for the day was to get to Castle dell'Ovo and we were supposed to reach there by bus. To begin with, we started to take the bus in the wrong direction. It took me one bus stop to realise we were heading the opposite way. We took off at the bus stop, and google told us we had to go back to the previous stop to take the next bus. It took us fifteen minutes to walk back, and we had to walk through dirty streets covered with trashes. It was by that time I thought to myself that I would never come back here. We walked to the main station but never succeeded to find the right bus stop. I even tried to ask the ticket officer but I got yelled at instead. In the end, we decided to take the metro and walked for half an hour, which turned out to be the best decision ever, because we got so much more to see. 

A walk from Piazza del Plebiscito to Castle dell Ovo

From Municipio station, we walked through castle Nuovo once more, and even passed by the restaurant we saw yesterday. It was almost empty and I felt like wanting to go and dine there, and although it was almost noon, we haven't visited any place, so we put a hold on that and walked through Piazza del Plebisictio on the way to Castle dell Ovo. The square was huge and amazing. There weren't so many people at the time we reached there (unlike Toledo, which was located in the next street, already full of tourists). After taking some pictures, we continued to walk, and there it was, the sea. Unlike yesterday in the harbor, this time the weather was sunny, and seeing all those palm trees was really calming me. 

 

finally got a taste of the famous sfogliatelle

 

Piazza del Plebisito

 

The walk was pretty nice, and the weather was neither too cold. We decided to sit in a "mini" cafe and ordered two cups of espresso. One thing we noticed here in Italy is that people drank lots of espressos, and somehow they never understood it correctly every time we wanted to order "Latte Macchiato". Anyway, we stayed for some minutes to enjoy the view of the sea -- Mount Vesuvius was almost visible if it weren't for the clouds. The setting of the cafe reminded me of the stands at Losari Beach -- to be honest, it was a nice nostalgic feeling. 

what a view...

Castle dell Ovo

Like Castel Nuovo, the castle itself seemed to be like a fort. We had to cross a bridge to get there, and oh dear, there were so many sellers who tried to sell you keychains and stuff. The entrance was actually free, but we didn't book it in advance and all the slots for that day were already booked out. The other option to enter was through an exhibition, but I was not going to pay 17€ for that one. Instead, we made it outside the castle and set our quest to find a place to eat. We were extremely hungry, and it was already past noon. I saw some restaurants with adequate reviews from google, but since we were afraid those were all tourist traps, we decided to walk back through the bridge.

Castle Nuovo from accross the bridge

boats boats boats!

Quest: Lunch 

Turned out there were a lot more restaurants on the street across Castle dell Ovo and they all looked like tourist traps xD While keep walking and walking, we then had to decide whether to stop by a random restaurant or go back and go to our next place. We saw a cute restaurant just before the castle, but too tired to walk back twenty minutes when all we had for today was one piece of Sfogiatelle. Finally, we stopped by a restaurant that didn't have two thousand of its servers trying to lure people in. 

 

The salad was better than yesterday's dinner but still disappointing. The bruschetta was nice but it took a while until they served us our main food. I ordered fried pizza because I've read some blogs and they recommended to at least try the fried pizza in Napoli. It wasn't bad but didn't surprise me either. I think we were just in the wrong restaurant for fried pizza. But the main thing is that we finally filled our fuel and were ready for the next stop. 

We still had two places in mind: Castel St. Angelo (thanks to a friend's recommendation!) and the Christmas market. Using google maps, we decided to try the funicular to the castle first, and it would take us around 40 minutes, (with the funicular actually only 5 minutes and the rest by walking). There was a direct bus, but we stopped believing our luck with that one in Napoli xD

Castle St. Angelo

The way to the next Funicular was nice -- nice enough to realize that not every part of Napoli was full of trashes. We saw very little trashes lying around, and the neighborhood was pretty neat. It makes me wonder how two parts of the city could be this different. It took us around twenty minutes (with a few photo stops) to reach the funicular and we had to wait for another ten minutes for the next funicular schedule. I've rarely ridden a funicular, only did it in Heidelberg twice (which only lasts less than 90 seconds). It took us a couple of minutes and three stops until we reached the end station and from there, we walked for another fifteen minutes to reach the castle. The castle was located high up in Napoli.

The weather was starting to get darker and colder. I hate cold, but the view might be great from the castle. Unlike other castles, it was actually not possible to be inside this castle. We paid 5€ to walk through (and nobody checked us until the end) and then walked up, just following everyone. The higher we went, the colder it got and the wind got stronger. But the view was worth it, and if it weren't only for the cold, I would love to stay more up there. We spent around one hour there, taking pictures and walking through before going to the next destination (and before I got grumpier due to weather xD).

left: the way to funicular // middle & left: castle st. angelo

the view from up!

On the way to the all-year-round Christmas market

I've read that one must-visit place was the Christmas market that opened for all time of the year and it was what typical from Napoli. It took us around half an hour to reach the metro station and we walked around ten minutes through the smaller street. After exiting the main road and we went to the narrower street, we saw lots of secondhand bookstores. We just did a quick eye-shopping before continuing to walk, since all the books were in Italian. Along the street, there were also lots of souvenirs stands, from handmade necklaces, the famous Neapolitan chili accessories, to posters. Instead of big brands (and streets like Toledo), I prefer these streets. It felt more local. 

The so-called Christmas market was not anything like German's Weihnachtsmarkt, but they had their own uniqueness. It seemed some of the accessories were handmade by the shop owners, but all the stuff were quite the same from one store to another store. In the end, it took us less than ten minutes to finish walking the street. Since I haven't got my daily dose of sugar (xD), we decided to take a small break at the cafe, and the coffee and the cordine I ordered were delicious although a bit too sweet for me (didn't know the name of what I ordered but never saw this kind of coffee-mix anywhere). 

to close the day: gelato!

We walked back to our Airbnb around 20 minutes and were glad that we still managed to buy a gelato (no matter how cold it was outside). We didn't have dinner, but instead buy some small stuff from a minimarket, as well as lunches for our trip on the next day to Pompeii!

Day 3: Pompeii & the worst dinner

Pompeii: will be on a special post since it was the highlight of this Napoli trip!

After coming back from Pompeii, we decided to take one hour of rest before heading up for dinner. Since we walked so much, we didn't want to go somewhere that far. I found a restaurant with a good review on google and decided maybe on our last night we should've had something good. 

The restaurant itself was okay decorated, if you asked me, they just had so many displays of newspapers' articles about them. Unfortunately, they did not have anything specific for vegetarians. I ordered seafood pasta, but unfortunately, it tasted like regret. Not our best restaurant, but at least we didn't put extra effort to go there.

Day 4: Bye Napoli!

Our itinerary for the 4th day was pretty flexible because we didn't want to stress ourselves since we had to travel to Rome. Theoretically, we could have stayed half-day in Napoli, but we thought we already saw everything we wanted to see, and for me, it was enough. We took the train shortly before 11am but went to the train station one hour before (despite staying only five minutes from the main station) to avoid any last-minute trouble. 

last breakfast in Napoli!

What we noticed from our experience that unlike in Germany where you might or might not get checked in the train, in Italy you have to scan your tickets (and your corona vaccination qr-code) before going to the platforms. And what's even "funnier" for me, the platforms of the trains were to be shown only shortly before the departure time, and you could only go to the platforms area at least 40 minutes before your train, resulting in lots of people waiting outside of the platforms. 

But anyway, despite all the cons of Napoli, we did enjoy our time there. As I said in the beginning, I did not see myself visiting this city anytime soon, unless I wanted to visit the Island or go to Pompeii again! 

What to eat/drink in Napoli (based on the foodie me xD)

• Sfogiatelle (you can find them almost everywhere)
• Fried Pizza
• Lots of seafood pasta (if you could find a good restaurant)
• Cannoli
• Lots of espressos
• Neapolitan Pizza (sadly we didn't try this)
• Baba

My recommendation on where to eat:

• Cafe Gambrinus (https://grancaffegambrinus.com/en/)
• Offered plenty of desserts, drinks, as well as food. It is a little bit more expensive for Napoli but worth it!!
• Ristorante Tipicio Napoletano - I Sapori di Parthenope (https://www.isaporidiparthenope.it/)
• We love their pizza but don't order salad here xD

Thanks for reading my story!

Changing Blue Card to Permanent Resident Card (Niederlassungerlaubnis) in Germany

 Hello everyone!

It has been more than a year since I got my German permanent residency, and after a long wait, here you go: the promised post about how I changed my Blue Card to Permanent Resident Card for Germany.

For some of you who did not know, I changed my student visa to EU Blue Card back in 2018 when I started my full-time job (you can read my complicated experience here). I only had a limited blue card that was only valid for the period of my work contract + 3 months (the time window to find another job), which means my Blue Card was only valid until January 2021. 

I did some research already about the alternative of the possibility of the next steps, although to be honest, I was also having the pressure that I wouldn't get a contract extension at work and had to find another job, which meant things would get a tad complicated had that happened. 

1. The first alternative was just to simply extend the blue card with another blue card. From what I've heard, if you extend the blue card, at least it wouldn't be bound to your current company (in my previous blue card I received an additional letter that said that my blue card was only valid when I worked in the company).
2. The second option was to change the blue card to a permanent resident permit. And since it's no secret that I hate German bureaucracy, of course, I'd try my best to go with this flow. 

Okay, long story short (skipping the dread months when I was unsure about my contract), I got my job contract extension to a permanent one, which meant it would at least make my application for permanent residency easier. 

THE DIFFERENCE(S) between Blue Card and Permanent Resident

• Blue card has an expiration date, while permanent resident well.. supposed to let you stay as long as you want -- they simply can't "kick you" out easily. However, noted that in your blue card, they will put "valid until" your passport expiration dates.
• Blue card tied you with your employer, while permanent residency does not, which means you're free to work as anything, and now even without a minimum salary. 
• No unemployment benefits for blue card holders, while permanent residents are eligible to apply for unemployment benefits. 

REQUIREMENTS

• You have to be at least in possession of the blue card for at least 33 months before applying.
• However, this can be shortened to 21 months if you have German B1 certificate.
• I did my B1 certificate in Goethe 10 years ago (2011), but I lost the certificate, and since they did not accept my RWTH Aachen's DSM's (Deutsche Sprachprüfung für Master-Studierende), I either had to redo my test or waited for another 11 months. 11 months seems like a long time and also it meant I had to renew my blue card in between, so that was why I decided to do my B1 test again. Unfortunately, the earliest available exam was at the end of August, so I had to wait a bit. A bit of advice though, do not lose your B1 certificate, because it's pretty expensive to take them again!
• You have some knowledge of the German language (A1 for 33 months, B1 for 21 months)
• You are independent and you don't need any third-party support to finance yourself in Germany
• You have paid the Renteversicherung for 33 months or 21 months (if you have Blue Card)
• You have enough space for living.

DOCUMENTS TO PREPARE

If you think you have fulfilled all the criteria above, then congratulations! Here are the documents that you'll need to send via email/bring in person: 

• Salary slips (they asked for the last 3 months in the beginning, but after I send them all, they again asked for the complete slip salary of the Year 2020)
• Proof that you have paid Renteversicherung for 21 or 33 months. How to get it: 
• Go to https://www.deutsche-rentenversicherung.de/DRV/DE/Online-Dienste/Juli_2021/informationen_anfordern_einreichen.html
• Choose "Versicherungs- und Rentenunterlagen anfordern". A new tab will be opened.
• Choose "Rentebezugsbescheinigung" for "Anforderung von..."
• and complete the remaining form with your data 
• You will receive a letter with the details 1-2 weeks later
• B1-certificate
• Permanent work-contract
• Certificate of employment (they will provide the form) that needs to be signed by your employer
• Housing certificate (they will provide the form) that needs to be signed by your landlord

HOW TO (in a nutshell)

The process below is not an absolute "how-to", it is based on my experience. I think the process would vary depending on your Ausländeramt. I got lucky because since I moved to Sindelfingen, the process of everything related to Ausländeramt (visa, sponsor letter, and so on) was easier than when I lived in Aachen. 

1. Send an email stating the intention to change your current resident permit to permanent resident. 
• Again, this varies from person to person. In my Ausländeramt, they accept phone calls and emails, and since I prefer to have it written somewhere, I send them an email instead. 
2. After sending them back all the documents they required, they'll send you an appointment. 
3. Come to the appointment with all the documents and 110€ money (some only take cash, some have a machine where they took EC-Karte). Do not forget to ask where you need to pick up the card once they're ready!
4. Ta-da, they'll give you a paper stating that you're now having a permanent residence. However, your card could be picked up normally after 6 weeks. 
5. After some weeks, you will receive a PIN for your new card. Normally, if you have received this, you can already take the card in 2 weeks. 
6. Take your new shiny permanent-residence card. For Sindelfingen, I need to take it in Bürgeramt (where you do your anmelden). Due to Corona, I had to make an appointment, but normally, people could simply take it without any appointment. 

GOOD TO KNOW that...

• Your "permanent" resident card has an expiration date! My card's expiration date is the same as my passport. So far, I haven't researched on how to extend it, but I will update it here once I know (I'll be back before the end of 2023 :p)
• You still can't vote with a permanent residency. You'll need German citizenship for that!

So that's it! It looks less complicated than my blue card and the driving license, but I also needed at least about 2 months because of the German B1 exam! If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to let me know. See you in the next post :)