The cobblestones are shiny with rain. It has been spitting all day. It is rather spooky down there in the Piata as most people have taken shelter from the wet. Just as dusk turns to darkness over Piata Victoriei, an unusual phenomenon begins.
I have noticed that the animals in Romania are left pretty much on their own. You can set your watch to the time the sheep return from the mountain meadows in the countryside. Apparently, this is also true in the city also. The crows know it is time to call it a day and they all rush home to their nests at the same time. Just on the cusp of evening, as the light is fading to darkness, it begins. There is silence in the air, and then, imperceptibly, the sound of beating wings begins to whisper through the failing light.
It is not long before the first birds arrive. The first wave comes from the left of the Opera House heading right through the Piata and out, directly in front of the Cathedral, just missing it as they fly to the left.
More and more raucous birds fly over. With a tremendous rushing of wings, the sky above the piata is soon filled with birds. More and more waves of them are whooshing through the Piata. A few of them roost on the building across the way. There are thousands of birds in huge flocks, wheeling through and on to their destination. They careen about the sky above the Piata turning the sky black with their beating wings. The sound of so many wings flapping is unnerving. They are flying so fast that it is impossible to actually see them individually. Occasionly one will dip down, seeming to take in the piata, eyeing me menacingly, deciding whether to roost on the balcony, but then it passes by, returning to the flock.
Each flock is a swirling dervish overhead as they swoop up and down. Suddenly they are gone as quickly as they arrived. It has not been five minutes since the first wave of them arrived but now 
every one of them has disappeared behind the cathedral. 
The only reminder that they were ever here is the park benches.
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