The GC is often a transparency tester for me at 48°N.

Under the last night rural sky I could pick up some mottling with my 6" and 84x and a direct visible faint star at the northern tip. I also noted the nice orange double star 0.6° SW.

Smallest aperture was my 8x30 binocular. I described the GC as a faint but clearly visible nonstellar diffuse patch