We found information about this museum while reading Ruszajwdroge.pl blog. We read their post about a visit to this place. They were discovering eastern Poland in 2010. We wanted to get the same experiences.
In the tiny village Gołąb (the pigeon) which is located between Pulawy and Dęblin you can find a private museum of Mr. Joseph Constantine Majewski. This is a unique Museum of Unusual Bicycles.
Unusual Bicycle Museum is a place that is definitely positively twisted. The owner of this place is a real enthusiast, who, as he told us, spent half of his lifetime cycling. Now, he is retired and shares his passion with others, leading a private museum.
Visiting the “museum” is quite unusual. In the private farmyard, benches are placed, where guests are invited to sit and in front of them is a utility room, from which Mr. Joseph pulls out one bicycle after another. Each one is more interesting than the previous. Don’t worry, you will not sit all the time. More about this in a moment.
Our adventure in the museum began with a brief introduction to the history of bicycles. And here we need to mention that as far as everyone knows bicycles as a vehicle – we assume that probably no one knows their history so well. So you can get some interesting knowledge at the start.
Next comes the more interesting part of the visit – presentation of collected bikes. When Mr. Joseph pulls the bicycle out of the garage he starts by telling some story about how he created this bicycle, what is the principle of its operation, then takes a demonstration ride to show how it works. And here comes the most interesting part – everyone gets a chance to ride an unusual bike. Every single one! Children curiously peered through the open door to discover what treasures are hidden there, and each bike pulled out revealed something new and different, unusual.
Mr. Joseph’s sets are impressive. We can watch and ride on bicycles that were extensively used by Mr. Joseph during holiday trips, as well as those that were experimental designs. There are those that were used at work, and even in film. Some of them are funny, some surprising – each of them unique and unusual.
Mr. Joseph began collecting bikes in the 80s when he was a teacher at a technical school. His students were building bicycles during lessons. Mr. Joseph has more than 60 exhibits in his collection. We saw, among others: city bike, folding bike, bike used for carrying milk cans, bicycle with handlebars at the back, recumbent bicycle, galloping bicycle, tandem bike, jumping bike without a frame, and ending with the bike “spaceship”.
Mr. Joseph gave his heart to this museum. We felt that at every moment. He is trying to interest everyone who visits the museum. Each guest is asked their name, their interests, where they came from. He is extremely open and willing to talk to anyone. During the presentation he is telling us story of his life. As an excellent teacher, he can interest both adults and children. Thanks to him everyone had the opportunity to try riding unusual bikes without any fear.
In summary: great place for both adults and children. Mr. Joseph strongly encouraged the children to come visit him with their school classes. In our case, however, it will be difficult, because we live too far away to make a school trip there.
You should allocate a lot of time to spend here, our “tour” took about 3 hours. The museum is open between April 1 and October 31, every day of the week from 10 AM to 6 PM. Before arrival it is good to make a phone call to join a larger group – in that way you will not lose any part of the show.
If you are English-speaking – you should come to this museum with a translator. Unfortunately Mr. Joseph’s show is in Polish only.