I've lived in CA (Silicon Valley), and I agree that the avocados are one of the best things about living there. The other is the weather: that perfect Mediterra

I've lived in CA (Silicon Valley), and I agree that the avocados are one of the best things about living there. The other is the weather: that perfect Mediterranean climate with hot, dry (and I mean no rain April-Sept.) summers and mild, rainy winters. Now I live on the actual Mediterranean. The climate is still amazing, the avacados...meh. Really not very good at all. But the olives! You have never had olives. Not like this. The varieties, the flavor, it's just like you describe for avocados in CA. It's always struck me as odd that both places could have their own you-can't-find-them-elsewhere specialities that would be so different for what is essentially an identical climate. For olives, I can only assume it has to do with their multi-century lifespan.