Girl With A Pearl Earring.

Incredibly bored of finals and in need of a break, I headed to the De Young Museum, in Golden Gate Park, to take advantage of the museum's free admission in honour of International Museum Day.

I also really wanted to see Vermeer's Girl With A Pearl Earring, which is currently on display until 2nd June (so go soon if you want to see it!).

After a quick detour by Stow Lake to visit the ducks (okay, it was accidental, but look how pretty it is!)...

I headed to the museum to see the exhibition. 

Unsurprisingly, photography was not allowed inside, but it was definitely special seeing one of the most iconic paintings in the world. 

Afterwards, I went up to the museum's observation tower, which I somehow missed the last time I was here. The best views were over the Museum Concourse...

...and out to the Pacific.

 I'm glad I visited on a clear day - it wouldn't have been anywhere near as worthwhile if the famous San Francisco fog had decided to roll in! Still, even if the weather isn't the best, it's worth the trip up just to see the huge satellite photograph of the city. 

While I was at the museum I also had a look at the latest photography exhibition, which features photos taken about 10 years ago at the beginning of the Iraq War. 

Though some of it was quite disturbing, I really enjoy photography exhibitions - the next one I want to see is the current Garry Winogrand display at SFMOMA. 

Once I'd finished at the De Young, I headed home through the Rose Garden - I'm glad I got to see all of the lovely springtime blooms! 

A Note: I'm very sorry if my formatting/photos are a bit off at the moment - my laptop charger has given up once and for all, so I'm uploading via the 'blogger' app on my iPhone. Hopefully my posts are still turning out alright!