I'm not one for spoilers myself, but I'll tell you this: it'll definitely end better than Journey's End. ;) I'm in the same boat as you, convinced that my world is canon and anything else is just some delusional fanboy's story. *cough*

Glad you like the characters as well - ooh, and remember, technically Gemma and the Doctor have already met, back in the museum.

As for the real Venice, I highly recommend it. I'm a dork though, I'd recommend just about any place in Italy.

Thanks for the well wishes with the apartment! The moving part is over, but now comes the unpacking (something I should be doing right now instead of tooling around on lj...).

Thanks for reading!