THE NEWSDESK: Did we all just have a surreal Nato summit dream?

There will be no blue-capped police waving to us from M4 overbridges.

Did all that really happen? Did we all have a communal, surreal dream where the President of the United States walked into a school in Rogerstone and said: "Morning, guys, where am I sitting?"

One where everyone driving on the SDR actually stuck to the lane markings, because every other van was a police vehicle.

Where, for once, the weather played along with a major event and gave us two gorgeous, sunny days to show off the best of Gwent.

It's going to be hard to quantify the legacy of the Nato summit in financial terms, to quantify the spend versus income generated.

Who knows how many Americans will heed Obama's plea to come to Wales?

Who knows how many of those foreign delegates, journalists and police officers will decide to come back to the area?

Who knows if anyone watching the coverage will think "looks like a nice place, let's give it a try"?

A Newport Declaration would have been a great fillip for this city. That is an opportunity missed.

But the summit has, undoubtedly, been good PR for this area. And, in Newport at least, without the feared traffic disruption.

Driving to work on Thursday and Friday, it was clear many people had taken the days off - either to avoid potential traffic problems or to look after children whose schools had been closed.

What also struck me, is that among the PR winners of this summit are the various police forces whose officers have been seconded here.

The policing of this summit has done wonders for the relationship between police and public.

What could have been heavy-handed and confrontational - with the sheer numbers on our streets - ended up being a relaxed and friendly atmosphere.

The event largely passed without incident, the protests were sensibly policed.

Witness the social media pictures of officers and the public together, and the sign left for the people of St Julians by Hampshire officers who manned the roundabout at Caerleon Road.

The handwritten note thanked locals for the 'kindness' shown to them during their time posted as part of the massive security operation surrounding the summit.

It said: "Thank you to all the residents for your kindness, giving us freshly baked cakes, sausage rolls, cans of drink, sweets and cups of tea, all greatly appreciated.

"We will not miss standing on the roundabout for 12 hours at a time but will miss the people within the community who showed friendship and kindness during our stay."

I suspect that the direct contact between police and members of the public in a non-confrontational setting has been no bad thing for the police, either.

It is a very tangible reminder that despite the technology they now use, despite in some parts of the UK outside Gwent there being a sometimes tense relationship between the public and their officers, they are dealing with human beings going about their lives.

Let's hope they take the "Gwent way" back to their own forces, and that is another legacy of this summit.

When it comes to political legacies, the content of the final declaration was of no real surprise, the Ukranian leader announcing a ceasefire on the golf course the only major twist during the two days.

Of course, the big political PR winner from the summit was Obama.

His PR operation was slick, he completely overshadowed all other world leaders.

And his secret? A simple one, say our staff who were in the same room with him.

The ability to be relaxed at all times.

To exude it, the moment he walks into a room.

Making a photograph of the children at Mount Pleasant Primary meeting him a banner image on the White House website on Friday was another slick PR move.

I'm sure those youngsters and their parents will always remember the visit.

My favourite tale from the day? One youngster in Rogerstone who didn't know quite who the VIP was, despite all the White House PR.

"Is he a footballer?" the youngster whispered.