Solstrand Hotel & Bad, Os, Norway

Enjoyed in the gorgeous restaurant at the Solstrand Hotel and Bed in Os, just outside of Bergen, Norway.

I can’t recall how we ended up in Solstrand, 30 minutes from Bergen. I know I wanted to go to Norway, I know we both wanted a spa-forward hotel, but I booked this trip 9 months prior and do not remember the research that had landed us in Os, enjoying the best of Norway’s west coast, bathed in sunshine and blue skies on an atypically gorgeous summer day.

It probably didn’t matter – we were here, and it was incredible. This was the relaxation we needed, especially after the overnight connection flight in Paris that left us with less than two hours of sleep.

Of course, it had only been a few minutes since walking into the property, but immediately we both felt in total zen mode. Our room was not ready, and we had massages booked in just over an hour, so lunch would be on the agenda for us.

We sat down in the Solstrand’s immaculately manicured dining room, strew with white tablecloths and lit with sunshine and candles. Our orders placed, mine for the club sandwich and Rachel’s for the daily salad, we settled down in the moment, easing ourselves in a slower pace we would revel in.

Scanadavians pride themselves on beautifully baked breads, and the Solstrand’s club sandwich embodied this; how they kept the toasted white bread so fluffy and crispy while holding a mayonnaise-heavy meal together was almost unfathomable. Yes, mayo mixed with the chunky chicken, and salad… double mayo, did produce a slightly overly creamy club, which detracted from the enjoyment of this experience. I tasted the poultry almost as much as the bacon, but it felt like both were there more of texture than flavor.  Yet all this to say I did enjoy the club sandwich… not my favorite, and a few tweaks would greatly improve it, but alas, pleasant and entertaining. The chips were crispy and crunchy, only slightly oily, and I filled up on them as one would.

We finished and escarped to the spa, where warm massages would await us before we relegated ourselves to the saunas and pools…

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