Every year around this time aficionados of Ann Smith Gordon's audio-visual presentations — now in their 22nd year — ask the question: 'Where has she been now?'

On March 12 they will have their answer: Poland.

An indefatigable traveller who makes a trip to an interesting destination each year armed with her trusty camera, Mrs. Smith Gordon then spends countless hours on her return editing the photographs and writing her script. Each country will have been well researched before, during and after her visit, which is what makes her shows so informative and fascinating.

As always, the president of PALS dedicates the first showing of any trip to Bermuda's only cancer care charity, and if past presentations are any indication, this year's edition will again play to a full house, so purchasing tickets early is recommended.

Mrs. Smith Gordon describes Poland as "an amazing country which has survived more than 1,000 years of turbulent history, and has, more recently emerged from the grim and grey decades of communism".

"It is a country full of surprises, glorious cathedrals, beautiful works of art, magnificent castles and ancient fortresses of the Teutonic Knights, wonderful museums, stunning World Heritage Sites, amazing sand dunes, ships that sail over land, and so much more," she says.

Viewers will join her where the journey began: in the former Royal capital of Krakow, the only large city to emerge unscathed from the ravages of the Second World War, and the place regarded by Poles as the birthplace of their nation and culture.

Contrasting side trips to the nearby Wieliczka salt mine, with its underground chapels and lakes, and the heart-wrenching death camps of Auschwitz and Berkenau, where millions of European Jews perished during the Second World War. Then it is on to the World Heritage Site of Zamosc, considered a perfect example of a late 16th century Italian Renaissance town, and Warsaw, now a thriving capital city completely rebuilt from the rubble of the 1939-45 conflict.

The beauty and charm of today's Gdansk, where the Second World War broke out on September 1, 1939, and 90 percent of its historic centre was destroyed, is the penultimate stop. The geographical and political centre of Poland, Gdansk is filled with elegant shops, luxury hotels, palaces and museums.

The journey ends with a 12-day cruise along the Vistula and Elblag rivers to the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad. The little-known Polish coastline explores in some depth a corner of Prussia rich in natural history, with ancient towns and villages, as well as miles of tranquil, beautiful landscapes still untouched by mass tourism.

'Travels in Poland, Land of Beauty and Treasures', under the distinguished patronage of Lady Grozney, will take place in the Mount St. Agnes Academy auditorium at 8 p.m. Tickets ($15) available from PALS headquarters in Paget (telephone 236-7257).