Long time European traveler-New trip/New observations

My wife and I've been visiting Europe almost annually for the last 25 years. There have been huge changes in those 25 years, with almost all of them being positive. We just got back from 10 days in Hungary/Austria, and here are a few things I picked up.

For the first time ever, I didn't go to an ATM and get local currency. I used Google Pay every single place in Hungary. I had 80€ left over from a previous trip to spend in Austria, which I spent about 15 for a place that didn't accept cards for under 20.

Budapest was my favorite place on the trip. Great food, great sites, friendly people, great hotel, great transportation, etc. One place we ate at added a 15% service fee, which annoyed me but as I get older I tend to let these things bother me less and less. There was also a couple of places who had the hand helds set up to default to high tip %'s. I just took my time and found the no tip option. If they had a 5% tip option, I would do that.

Vienna-I don't think I've seen bigger crowds anywhere in Europe than a Saturday in Vienna. It probably didn't help that there were 50k people in a marathon the next day. I would never recommend going to Vienna on a Saturday. I was also stunned by the number of people smoking in Vienna. Over the years I've seen the move to vaping, and I'm not bothered at all by smoking, but it just surprised me how many people were smoking in Austria. Hofburg area was gorgeous.

Since Vienna is closed on Sunday's, we made a day trip to Bratislava. Perfect place for a day trip.

Fandom girls from a certain country under 25-I hate to stereotype, but this group of girls have to be the worst on the planet when it comes to travel. We went on an hour boat ride, and 59 minutes involved them posing. Everywhere we went, they were influencing or whatever it is called (I know, I'm old). Every place has annoying travelers, but this group takes it to another level.

Salzburg and Innsbruck, were both good stops. We went out of our way not to visit Hallstat. Instead we took a short rail trip to Zwölferhorn, and had a pint.

The Transalpin train from Innsbruck to Zurich was amazing. Just be very careful when ordering tickets. We were in 1st class, but we didn't get the car that had the wrap around windows. Still a great trip, but a little disappointed that we didn't get the car we thought we were getting. AI failed on this as well as the web site. The car number has changed recently as well if you use something like Seat61.

Both Vienna and Budapest had great public transportation apps. We also used both Bolt and Uber a few times in both locations. Budapest to seem to be the same price for vehicles regardless of what type of vehicle you chose (XL, Luxury, EV, etc.).