Distance and exaltation : Maria Konopnicka as an anthropologist in Ischl

The article is devoted to Maria Konopnicka’s stay in Ischl, describes her impressi ons from the trip. The cognitive perspective launched by the author is analyzed. On the one hand, she submits to the influence of the surrounding nature and relates her own experien ces, on the other, she tries to interpret how she experiences the world (both spas, mountains, and finally people). The article shows how Ischl turns out to be a heterotopia that finds no counterbalance in any private and own place, because it does not exist here. Despite attempts to build a community, despite examples of immersion in nature - the directness experienced by the Self turns out to be illusory. Despite the common elements, the reality of the Austrian highlanders is alien, while the authenticity of nature requires the use of the language of Romanticism, and therefore always subject to re-presentation.The anthropological description applies not only to the rejected health resort, not only to the highlanders, but also to the traveler herself.