First you see her then you don?t ? and when it?s the latter it?s a sure bet that inveterate traveller Ann Smith Gordon is off with her camera on another exciting adventure which will later become the subject of a compelling audio-visual presentation in aid of the cancer charity, PALS.

With her latest trip to Croatia now ready to go, March 8 is the designated date for its public debut. As always, the show will take place at Mount St. Agnes Academy auditorium, beginning at 8 p.m.

The presentation will also mark a special milestone for Mrs. Smith Gordon: her 20th in the on-going series of her travels.

Surrounded by Slovenia, Hungary, Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro, Croatia endured its share of hostilities and damage during the 1990s war, yet it has healed its scars and is once more a beautiful country thus far unspoiled by mass tourism.

?See it before the Americans get there,? Mrs. Smith Gordon advises.

Her audio-visual presentation of Croatia will explore what she terms ?one of the world?s newest countries, born out of the fall of communism, an intense civil war, and the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia?.

?It is no longer a war zone fuelled by ethnic hatred between the Croats and Serbs,? she says, ?and the visitor will be delighted by charming medieval stone villages, mighty fortresses, glorious cathedrals, impressive Roman ruins, beautiful Venetian architecture, lovely islands, picturesque fishing villages, beautiful works of art, and so much more.?