A local’s London memories to visiting the Believe in Me Mural in Quex Mews, West Hampstead – jump on the train of my thoughts and feelings about London life!
Oh, I still remember seeing the Believe in Me mural by Sr. X in West Hampstead for the first time.
I’d been an au pair for a few weeks now.
To be fair, aside from going out of the house to go to West Hampstead and Kilburn to work on The Working Line, trying to make it a full-time blog, I didn’t do much.
I took care of the kids, and visited the O2 Centre, a shopping center on Finchley Road, more times than I can recall to take the youngest to a baby gym class and work on my laptop.
I visited the cafes and bakeries in West Hampstead a lot, too.
One of my favorites was, and still is Lola’s Bakery, part of Lola’s Cupcakes, which not only makes amazing Red Velvet cupcakes and carrot cake cupcakes, but also lots of other healthy and American-inspired baked goods).
Lola’s Bakery on West End Lane is not located too far from Costa Coffee, a Costa Coffee revamped after the pandemic for students, freelancers and digital nomads who would need laptop-friendly cafes – and I fell in love with this coffee shop.
On the other side of West End Lane, when walking down Messina Avenue and other winding streets nearby (like that where you can find Hart & Lova Bakery for really great carrot cake and other international desserts), one comes across Quex Mews, a really tiny mews street.
London Memories #4: Believe in Me Mural, Quex Mews, West Hampstead
Just off Kilburn High Road, and only minutes away from the posh West Hampstead neighborhood, the Believe in Me mural features a girl holding Pikachu, in a Madonna-like representation filled with bright colors.
If West Hampstead is not overly famous for its street art (although you can find quite a few bits and bobs here and there, all the way to Brondesbury Park station), this pop art mural in Quex Mews made my time as an au-pair in London even more interesting.
Aside from writing articles for the blog, and going shopping at the London Designer Outlet (located only a few stations away on the Jubilee Line, in Wembley Park), I don’t remember doing that much during that time in London.
It was 2022, and I moved to London yet again to try and make it, and try and be free, and as happy I can be.
I remember getting a lot of cheap Yankee Candles from the Yankee Candle store at the London Designer Outlet, as well as lots of cheap clothes and shoes from Nike and Adidas.
The Believe in Me mural in Quex Mews is a colorful addition to two neighborhoods.
That of Kilburn with its High Road, busy with cafes like Costa, Caffè Nero and shops like Primark and Superdrug, and that of West Hampstead, more residential, quaint, and very calm.