The Great Hall
The floating staircase in the center of the room has no railings because fairy folk balance themselves with their wings. The ceiling of this Great Hall is painted in scenes from the Grimm's and Hans Christian Anderson fairy tales. Over the door, at the back of the room, is the pied Piper of Hamlin with the children climbing up the wall to get to him. The knights in armor, at each side of the door, are silver and came from the collection of Rudolph Valentino, a famous motion picture actor of times gone by. The tall glass windows at the rear are etched in fairy tales: Jack and the Beanstalk, The Princess and the 7 Swans, and Prince Charming.
In the roped-off sections are treasures of Fairyland. To the left and on that low rosewood table are Cinderella's glass slippers. They are hollow with high heels and have tiny red glass bows. These are the tiniest little glass slippers that have ever been made. Next, are the silver skates belonging, of course, to Hans Brinker. And under that glass bell the tiny chairs of the 3 Bears sit on the heads of pins, the largest weighing only 150,000th of an ounce. There are many things in the Great Hall which are very old. For example, you can see to the left, way back in the room, on a green pedestal, a statue; a bust of a woman. This is Roman and about 2,500 years old. Next to this, on that table, are 4 art objects; 3 are statues of the Goddess Isis, and are over 4,000 years old. The 4th, a Syrian vase, over 1,000 years old.
To your right behind the ropes, is a Battersea enameled table, and on it sits a nest filled with golden eggs, and beside it a goose. These, of course, were stolen from the Giant by Jack. On the next table is a small pistol. It actually shoots. At the foot of the stairs you see two jars, one a 3,000 year old alabaster jar from Egypt, used by ancient Egyptian ladies to keep their mascara. The other is a glazed porcelain jar from ancient Siam and is over 1,000 years old.
As you go around the corner, stop and look through the clear glass in the center of the chapel window. You will see the altar, and on this altar is a little tabernacle. On top of the tabernacle you will see a beautiful golden sunburst. In the center is a glass container holding a sliver of the true cross. This was given to me by my friend, Clare Booth Luce, when she was the Ambassador to Italy and had her first audience with the Pope. He gave this to her, and she gave it to me to put in the chapel of the Fairy Castle.
