Here, let me translate:
Exorbitant prices were unnerving...
He's pissed that he had to pay for anything out of his own pocket.
There seems to be a slightly more glum/hostile atmosphere since the summer.
No one was there to greet him with open arms, offering to buy him meals and rent him a fancy car and basically litter the sidewalks with flower petals as he travels.
Important work was done though.
"Hey, I'm still doing my activism stuff so don't forget to become a patron... or at least leave a tip in the mayonnaise jar I now carry with me wherever I go."