Lipscani is an area north of B-dul Unirii that survived Ceauşescu's ambitions, and it will have to count as the old town of Bucharest. Many of the houses here are quite in a state of decay, but the last 5-7 years lots of restaurants have popped up here, and this is a very lively area at night. The contrast is quite bizarre: the happy life on the street level and the decay on the levels above.