The size of the monument is a fitting reflection of the significance of the event that took place here.

In October 1904, acclaimed Irish novelist James Joyce and his future wife Nora traveled by train from Zurich to Trieste. When the train stopped in Ljubljana, Joyce mistakenly thought he had reached his destination and got off with his belongings. After a few minutes, he realized something was wrong, but the train had already left. The next train would have to wait until morning. Herbert Gorman, James Joyce’s biographer, says that James and Nora spent the night in the city park near Železniška postaja Ljubljana.

So, on June 16, 2003, a small memorial was erected by Slovenian sculptor Jakov Brdar in time for Bloomsday, when fans honor Joyce’s memory. The tablet-sized plaque features a portrait of Joyce and announces modestly: “On October 19, 1904, James Joyce spent the night in Ljubljana.”

Nearby is a stylized bronze gutter grate with a scribbled melody. A sentence from Ulysses is printed on the grate in Slovenian and in English below: “V polkrogu je zavrtel ogledalo po zraku, da razpošlje to novico v soncu, ki je zdaj zarelo nad morjem. He swept the mirror a half circle in the air to flash the tidings abroad in sunlight now radiant on the sea.”