Great list, better than I expected, which was the ususal list: go to a touristy sunny beach here, a different sunny beach there (they have natives! whoo). But nearly all of the cities and places are actually worth a visit because of their enriching environments. Maybe I should've seen that it was a NYT piece. And it's always nice to find a Dutch city on it (#10). #17, Calgary, is being worked on. Hopefully I'll be there as an exchange student this fall. Still uncertain though.
Yep, I live in the north of the Netherlands. Rotterdam is an interesting city. I heard someone say that Rotterdam was bombarded by two forces: the Nazis and architects. I'd recommend a detour to Delft, it has an idyllic city centre, a great history of art and is a better representation of Dutch cities than Amsterdam. Only 13 minutes by train from Rotterdam. Delft station is undergoing a massive overhaul though, might be wise to look up where you'd want to go.