The Galata Bridge spans the Golden Horn and connects the two halves of European Istanbul. On the side opposite Eminonu and Sultanahmet are Beyoglu, Taksim, and their surrounding neighborhoods. If Sultanahmet is the heart of old Istanbul, Beyoglu and Taksim are the heart of new Istanbul. Istiklal Caddesi, one of the city's major shopping thoroughfares, cuts through both neighborhoods, and is studded with shops like Benetton and LaCoste, Starbucks and Burger Kings, cinemas and cultural centers and, in its adjoining alleys and tributaries, most of the city's bars and clubs. It ends at Taksim Square, actually a circle, which is one of those Big City spaces that's supposed to be lined with monuments or large or old buildings. They forgot the monuments and large buildings, but the space is big anyway.

Beyond Taksim Square, to the North and East, are posh neighborhoods with Prada and Gucci stores, embassies, and upscale hotels. To the South and East of it is Besiktas, home to one of the city's several soccer stadiums, and the Dolmabahce Palace, a European-style orgy of ornament and jeweled detail. It's said this palace was something like the Ottoman Empire's last hurrah, when the Sultans tried and failed to be more Europe than Europe in an attempt to stave off their empire's collapse. Also around here is Cihangir, a cute neighborhood with a sprinkling of galleries, artist's shops and cafes; some other low-key commercial neighborhoods; and the new Museum of Modern Art, which looks like any large gallery space in New York or London and has an interesting collection of art by Turks, as opposed to Turkish art. The museum concentrates mostly on paintings, with some video installations. To the West of Taksim are what looked like less affluent - rather, not at all affluent - residential neighborhoods.

Walking these parts helps shape an idea of Istanbul as a patchwork of distinct and wildly different neighborhoods, arranged arbitrarily through millennia of ad hoc development. I suppose any old city has some of that, but in Istanbul the differences and sprawl seem more pronounced than in other places I'd seen. Just as I thought I had Taksim and Beyoglu more or less understood, I got lost trying to find some shop or other. And after wondering for several days where all the inner city's cafes were, I stumbled upon Cihangir, which had dozens. And that was all before I'd seen the Asian half of the city, sprawling and equally diverse, or the Bosphorus-flanked semi-suburb where I met my friend Ekin, which despite being on the Asian side is distinctly European.

You won't get a sense of this if you stick to the most visited parts of the city, Sultanahmet, Istiklal Caddesi and Taksim. The former's all history and tourism, and the latter are just generic big city bustle.

Random Notes:
** The g in Beyoglu is silent. It's supposed to have an accent atop it to denote this, but I can't be bothered with finding that symbol now.
** C in Turkish is pronounced like J in English. So Caddesi, which means street or something like it, is pronounced jaddesi.
** Jehangir was the name of a Mughal Emperor in India. I'm not sure if the neighborhood Cihangir is named after him, or if both names come from an older source.